Carolyn P. Meinel (born 1946) is notable for being one of the targets in the hacking scene during the 1990s.

Biography

In 1983, Meinel received an

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

. Her father is

Aden Meinel Aden B. Meinel (November 25, 1922 – October 3, 2011) was an American astronomer. He retired in 1993 as a distinguished scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also held the rank of professor emeritus at the University of Arizona College ...

and mother is Marjorie Meinel. Meinel married her first husband, Howard

Keith Henson Howard Keith Henson (born 1942) is an American electrical engineer and writer. Henson writes on subjects including space engineering, space law (Moon treaty), memetics, cryonics, evolutionary psychology, and the physical limitations of Transhuma ...

, in 1967 and divorced in 1981. Meinel has four daughters, one of whom is

Valerie Aurora Valerie Anita Aurora is an American software engineer and feminist activist. She was the co-founder of the Ada Initiative, a non-profit organization that sought to increase women's participation in the free-culture movement, open-source technol ...

. In August 1975, Meinel co-founded (with her then-husband,

) the

L5 Society The L5 Society was founded in 1975 by Carolyn Meinel and Keith Henson to promote the space colony ideas of Gerard K. O'Neill. In 1987, the L5 Society merged with the National Space Institute to form the National Space Society. Name The na ...

, since merged into the

National Space Society The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Co ...

, and was its president for several years. In 1996, Meinel was among the targets of a high-profile email bomber known as "Unamailer" or "johnny xchaotic". Some security experts, such as Brian Martin of Attrition, have criticized her writings, claiming that they are inaccurate and generally misrepresent hacking.https://web.archive.org/web/20161001180645/https://attrition.org/errata/charlatan/shame/teach.html Carolyn Meinel: The Teacher

Publications

Books

* * *

Articles

* "How the West Was Won... or, The L-5 Society Defeated the Moon Treaty," Spacefaring Gazette, Vol. 10, No. 3, June/July 1994, pp. 1, 8. * "How Hackers Break in and How they Are Caught," Scientific American, Oct. 1998, *"For Love of a Gun," the history, technologies of electromagnetic guns, IEEE Spectrum, July, 2007, pp. 40 46. *(Many other articles)

Notes

External links

Happy Hacker - Carolyn Meinel's site
1946 births Living people Space advocates American technology journalists 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists {{US-journalist-1940s-stub