Born as Ada Gordon in 1815 to her father and famed poet, Lord Byron and his wife Lady Anne Byron, this woman would go on to become the first computer programmer. Her parents divorced shortly after Ada's birth, and she would never see her father again. Lady Byron, fearing that Ada would acquire her father's dramatic, volatile, poetic temperament; raised her in a home abundant with science, logic, and mathematics. This instilled in her a love and fascination with machines, which she would spend much of her time designing intricate and fantastical boats and steam-powered flying machines. Ada often absorbed herself in scientific magazines full of diagrams for the new inventions of the time. And this was during the Industrial Revolution, so there was plenty to take in.
In 1833 Ada's mentor Mary Somerville, who was a scientist and prodigy, introduced her to Charles Babbage. Babbage was a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics who shared an interest in inventions with Ada. They both were also said to have unconventional personalities, and cemented the close friendship that they cultivated and would continue for the rest of their lives. At age 19, in 1835, Ada married a nobleman, William King, who would go on to become the Earl of Lovelace only three years after they had wed. This made Ava the Countess of Lovelace and thus she has become commonly called Ada Lovelace. Throughout their marriage, and even after birthing three children, Ada continued working alongside Babbage on his inventions.
Ada was especially interested in the project that would precede Babbage's Difference Engine, which was essentially a calculator, called the Analytical Engine. This would combine Babbage's previous array of adding gears for the Difference Engine with an intricate punchcard operating system. It was an incredibly complex deign, that was never built, but it had the basic elements of a modern day computer. Because of this, Charles Babbage is said to be the "father of computers." In 1842, Babbage requested Ada to translate a short, Italian article about the Analytical Engine written by famed mathematician Luigi Menabrea, on account of the fact that Ada "understood the machine so well." In fact, he actually asked her to expand on that article due to her knowledge, and wound up making it three times longer than the original article. In these notes, Ada theorized different ways that the Engine could be used. This included, the manipulation of symbols, creation of music, and to repeat a series of instructions. The latter of the group is something referred to in modern computer programming as a loop.
This is just one of the things she did to deserve the title of "first computer programmer." Others include sketching out of detailed programs that were more complete than what Babbage and his assistants had been putting out, and also became the first ones to be published. She also concluded that this Engine would be able to follow patterns, calculate numbers, and form letters as well- comparing the workings of the Analytical Engine to how weaving machines work...which turned out to be a pretty good, basic explanation for how computer programming works. These notes all sort of just flew under the radar, and no one really discussed or investigated her claims any further.
In 1852, at age 36, Ada passed away due to Uterine Cancer and it wouldn't be until a hundred years or so that her notes would finally be recognized for their importance. In the 1940's, Alan Turing was inspired by Ada Lovelace's notes, which led him to develop the first modern computer. In 1980, the United States Department of Defense honored Ada by naming a newly developed computer language after her, simply called "Ada." Now, the second Tuesday in October has been deemed international "Ada Lovelace Day" and is meant to celebrate women and their achievements in science, technology, and math. Why the second Tuesday in October you might ask? Really, the answer is basically "just because." There wasn't any specific reason other than it falls at a good time when many people would be able to celebrate.
This year, that means that NEXT WEEK is Ada Lovelace Day! So get out there and enjoy some math, science, or technology or celebrate those around you who do!
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