Who wrote the computer program for GPS calculations?

• A. Astronomer Galileo Galilei
• B. Mathematician Gladys West
• C. Computer scientist Ada Lovelace
• D. Engineer Vint Cerf

Answer: (B)

Understanding GPS calculations hinges on knowing who helped turn satellite data into usable location coordinates. Gladys West, a mathematician who worked for the U.S. Navy, is the person most closely associated with writing the early computer programs that performed GPS calculations. Her work in the 1950s and 1960s contributed to the precise mathematical models and algorithms that convert satellite signals into accurate positions on Earth, including developing the reference framework the system relies on. That connection to the programming and the math behind GPS makes this the best answer.

The other figures are notable in very different domains. Galileo Galilei helped lay the foundations of observational science long before modern navigation, Ada Lovelace wrote early computer algorithms in an era without GPS, and Vint Cerf is a pioneer of the Internet protocols. Their contributions aren’t tied to writing the GPS calculation programs.