Add It All Up Together with Ada Lovelave
You probably know her as Ada Lovelace, but did you know she was actually born Ada Gordon in 1815 to a poet father and math-loving mother? Ada’s mother wanted the best for her daughter, so she raised her on a strict routine that only included science, mathematics, and logic. This kept her on track and focused, so she was not distracted from anything else.
At the age of 19, Ada went from Gordon to Lady Ada King, Countess of Lovelace when her husband, William King, became Earl of Lovelace in 1838. After a few years, she met Charles Babbage, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. The two grew a deep and meaningful friendship which led to their inventions and creative ideas.
Cabbage was focused on building what he called an Analytical Engine, which is very similar to the idea of a computer. Although the creation did not come about, they spent time with the elaborate idea of the machine. In 1842, Lovelace translated a short article about the machine written by Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea. Although Babbage created ideas regarding the machine, Lovelace’s was the first to be published. Many in today’s time consider her to be the first computer programmer due to this.
Sadly, at the age of 36, Lovelace passed away due to cancer. This was only a few years after the publication of “Sketch of the Analytical Engine, with Notes from the Translator”. Her words continued to live beyond her years as they were some of the notes used to create the first modern computers in the 1940s.
Over the years, her creativity and brilliance has continued to inspire women in technology until today.
