Smart Folks Who Need More Recognition

There are a few people who I've been reading about lately who I feel deserve more recognition.  These are folks who did amazing things generally in a crisis.  This list focuses on those who's work is tied in science and geekery and nerdy stuff.  Why?  Because I'm a geek and a nerd and it's my list.  Make your own.

I should probably point out that the list is not inclusive and may likely grow as time goes by.  It's also a non-ordered list.  I'm just adding names and links to information.  Why?  Because I'm lazy.  And, more importantly, because researching all these folks takes a lot more time than getting their names written down.  I'm not ignoring the irony of a list of people who deserve more recognition wherein I don't provide any further details about them beyond a terse summary.  For that I apologize.

• Don Eyles - a young mathematician who worked at the MIT Instrumentation Lab during the Apollo days.  He was instrumental (sorry for the pun) in the success of the Apollo 14 moon landing.
• Margaret Hamilton - She was director of software engineering at the lab where Don worked.  Women in STEM is something that I rally behind.  Margaret was doing cool stuff in a time when most women were not given the recognition they deserved.  Also, see below at the end of the list.
• Martin "Quill18" Glaude - a YouTube and Twitch personality who does "Let's Play" videos.  His style of presenting is both educational and entertaining; something that can be tricky to pull off for those who aren't performers.  He also has a side channel where he does training videos on video game development, primarily with the Unity game engine framework.  His motto of "What could possibly go wrong?" is frequently challenged during game play.
• Yan "TheCherno" Chernikov - another YouTube game developer who has an exceptionally well produced series of educational videos on C++ programming and OpenGL.  His approach to teaching programming is a refreshing change from the "Um.  Ah.  You see...  Just do this and don't worry," style that many other programming "instructors" pitch.
• Tarn "Toady One" Adams - an indie game developer who, along with brother Zack "Threetoes", created the super FUN game of Dwarf Fortress.  I cannot tell you just how amazing the game is or what dedication these two guys show for the game.  If you like roguelike games and (especially) games that torment and abuse you as a player then you must get Dwarf Fortress.  Pick up the Lazy Newb Pack as well to save you some headaches.

• Margaret Hamilton - This Margaret is the woman most people will recognize, if not by name then by her performance, as the Wicked Witch of the West in the original 1939 movie adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of  Oz.