Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace
Born on December 10, 1815 in Piccadilly, England, Ada led an unusual life for a woman of her time period. Her father, Lord Byron, the famous poet, had married her mother, Annabella Milbanke, a mathematician, less than a year before. And shortly after her birth, they divorced.
Lord Byron's life was filled with scandal and affairs. The most notable was that of a relationship with his half-sister, also named Augusta. Annabella did everything she could to assure her daughter would not grow up like her father.
Ada, as many noble women of her time, was trained by tutors. Her mother encouraged her down the path of mathematics. At 14, Ada became paralyzed for three years. It was during this time that she accelerated in the areas of mathematics, music, and linguistics. Later, she came under the tutorage of Mary Somerville, an accomplished mathematician.
It is through Ms. Somerville that at the age of 18 Ada was introduced to Charles Babbage and the Analytical Engine, the precursor to the modern digital computer. The two became close friends, corresponding for many years after.
Ada went on to translating from French to English, an article by Menabrea, summarizing the Analytical Engine. During this process, she added in many of her own notes. The most remarkable of which was a detailed explanation as to how this engine could calculate Bernoulli numbers. This description is considered the first "computer program".
In addition, her notes and correspondences show that Ada foresaw the potential for the Engine and what is now our modern computer. She depicted cybernetics and computer science over a hundred years BEFORE the first modern computer, ENIAC.
At 19, Ada married William King, who became Earl of Lovelace. After giving birth to her third child, Ada began having problems breathing and digesting. Her doctor gave her mixtures of drugs and alcohol, which led to delusions. When she finally cleansed herself of the drugs, she fell victim to gambling. Ada died at the age of 36 because of internal cancer. At her request, she was buried in the Byron vault, next to her father, for whom she never knew but finally understood.
 |
 |
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Caroline Baker's Internet & Society topic, please visit the Discussions page.