Ada Lovelace was born on the 10th November 1815 and died on the 27th November 1852. She was the first computer programmer for writing an algorithm in the mid 1800s.
Around the age of 17, Ada met Charles Babbage, a mathematician and inventor. The pair became friends, and the much older Babbage served as a advisor to Ada. As a young adult she took an interest in mathematics, and in particular Babbage’s work on the analytical engine. Between 1842 and 1843 she translated an article by Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea on the engine. She added her own notes on the engine. These notes contain what is considered the first computer program, that is, an algorithm encoded for processing by a machine. Though Babbage’s engine was never built, Lovelace’s notes are important in the early history of computers. She realized that computers would be able to do more than just calculating or number-crunching.
Did you know?
-Fearing Ada would follow in her father’s footsteps, Lady Byron, her mother, showed Ada her love for mathematics, as she didn’t want her to become a poet.
-At the age of 12, Ada had an idea to build a flying machine.
-Her contributions to computing weren’t recognized until a century after her death.
Emily Henderson @ ELIS 