Grace Hopper was a computer scientist and Navy admiral whose genius made programming more human. She believed that computers should understand English-like commands instead of just mathematical symbols. This led her to develop the first compiler (A-0), which paved the way for COBOL, the primary language for business data processing. Hopper was known for her ability to explain complex concepts, often using a piece of wire to represent a 'nanosecond' (the distance light travels in one-billionth of a second). She was a relentless innovator who served in the Navy into her 80s, constantly pushing the military to adopt the latest computing technology.