The audio version of this article can be found on Episode 55: A Bookchat about The Weight of Air with Kimberly Duffy & a Review of The Secrets of Emberwild by Stephenia H McGee
Countess of Lovelace (1815 – 1852)
On today’s Pinch of the Past we will be looking at an extraordinary woman before her time. Ada Lovelace, considered the first computer programmer, was the daughter of Lord Byron and the most wealthy woman of the 1800s.
Childhood
Born in England on December 10, 1815, she was the daughter of the famous poet Lord George Byron and his wife, Lady Anne Byron. She was Byron’s only legitimate child, and he left her and her mother weeks after she was born. He actually commemorated parting from her in his poem titled “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” saying,
“Is thy face like thy mother’s my fair child! ADA! sole daughter of my house and heart?”
Sadly, Lord Byron died when Ada was nine. In an effort to keep her from developing Lord Byron’s perceived insanity, and possibly out of spite, Lady Byron encouraged her daughter’s interest in mathematics and logic.
Adulthood
Ada was mentored by Charles Babbage who is known as “the father of computers”. He invented the Difference Engine, an early version of the calculator.
Even after marrying William King, the Earl of Lovelace, and having three children, Ada continued her work with Babbage. He asked her to interpret his instructions for the Analytical Engine in French. Ada did so, adding her additional notes and signing them A. A. L.
Ada understood that the machine worked with letters and codes, not just as a calculator using numbers, but also letters which is basically computer programming.
Her notes would later be used by Alan Turing who invented the first modern computer in the 1940s. In 1979, the U.S. Department of Defense named a programming language Ada in her honor.
She was a uniquely talented person. Ada often used metaphors to describe scientific theories and also used her unique talents as a poet to interpret and create a pattern-based language for mathematical insights. When describing the Analytical Engine she said it “weaves algebraic patterns, just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Later life
Ada only lived to be 37. She suffered from asthma and digestive problems. Like many people at that time, she used opium-based painkillers and, unfortunately, developed an addiction. It is unknown if she was ever in remission. She died of uterine cancer in London in the year 1852.
No matter how short her life, Ada is an example of a woman who used every opportunity to pursue what she loved. Despite suffering from health problems throughout her life, she contributed to the advancement of our society’s technology.
Links: Ada Lovelace: the power of imagination and poetical science by Lindsay Morgia, M.S., M.P.P.
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