Mathematician and Computer Programmer
Who is Ada Lovelace?
When Ada Lovelace was twelve-years-old, she knew she wanted to fly. She first approached the problem methodically, examining birds and trying to see if she could make her own wings out of silk and feathers. In the course of her research, she wrote and illustrated a guide called ‘Flyology’ until her mother reprimanded her for neglecting her studies. She was supposed to look towards the ‘rational’, not the ‘fanciful.’ But Ada Lovelace never stopped. She kept asking questions and demanding answers. One such question was this: “What is Imagination?” Her response? ‘The combining faculty’ which ‘seizes points in common, between subjects having no apparent connection, and then, she went on: ‘Imagination is the Discovering Faculty, pre-eminently. It is that which penetrates into the unseen worlds around us, the worlds of Science.’
It is no wonder that Augusta Ada Lovelace is known as the first computer programmer. Even though she wrote about a computer, the Analytical Engine, that was never built, she realized that the computer could follow a series of simple instructions — otherwise known as a program — to perform a complex calculation. Today, Ada Lovelace is recognized annually on October 15th to highlight the often overlooked contributions of women to math, science, and the world as a whole. Valerie Aurora, the executive director of the Ada Initiative, a nonprofit that organizes conferences and training programs to elevate women in math and science says this about her:“Lovelace is an unusual example of a woman for her time because she was not only allowed to learn mathematics but encouraged to learn mathematics. She shows what women can do when given a chance.”
3 Things We Love About Ada Lovelace:
- Ada’s mother, Lady Byron, had mathematical training (she was known as the ‘Princess of Parallelograms’) and insisted that Ada studied math as well.
- Ada Lovelace would marry and go on to have three children.
- Ada is called the ‘prophet of the computer age’.
Work Cited
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/ada-lovelace-the-first-tech-visionary