Thelma Estrin (1924-2014)
Filed under the name Thelma · February 7, 2026
I never trusted automation much, watched robots and efficiency experts hollow out my hometown after the plant closed in 2009, so it surprised me how much I respected Thelma Estrin's story once I actually read it. She was an early, groundbreaking biomedical engineer who worked to build some of the first uses of computers inside neurophysiology labs, opening doors for women in engineering along the way, and I have to admit that's a different kind of technology story than the ones that cost my friends their jobs. This is somebody using new machines to actually help doctors understand the human body better, not to squeeze more output out of a worker for less pay. My son who moved out to Seattle for tech work has tried for years to get me to see that side of it, and stories like Estrin's make his case better than any argument he's ever made to my face. Maybe I've been a little too quick to lump all of it together. She built tools that helped people. That's a distinction worth making.