While viewing Kate Beaton‘s Twitter page, I stumbled upon this webcomic about Lovelace and Babbage. I’ve heard these names in passing, but knew nothing of the historical figures, so I did a little Wikipedia search.
It turns out that Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was Lord Byron’s only legitimate daughter, and was a mathematical genius. Her mother wanted to weed out the supposed insanity in the family (which she perceived in Lord Byron; why ever would she think that??), so she had Lovelace schooled pretty much exclusively in math and science. Lovelace married well and became the “The Right Honourable Countess of Lovelace,” and was known for her incredible mathematical intellect. She was fascinated with Charles Babbage’s “Analytical Engine” (an early computer design), and in a set of extensive notes she wrote on the machine, she included “what is recognized as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine” (“a method for calculating a sequence of Bernoulli numbers with the Engine, which would have run correctly had the Analytical Engine ever been built.”) Because of these notes, she is widely considered the world’s first computer programmer, and the method in the notes is considered the first computer program. How awesome is that!?
I am especially impressed by the success of a woman fathered by the infamously rakish, notoriously flighty, and essentially unfit for fatherhood, Lord Byron. She could have been a mess, but turned out a genius with a relatively balanced and successful life. Here’s to you Ada Lovelace!
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace
Kate Beaton’s take on Ada:
Source: http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=141