2. Who was Ada
Lovelace?
◦ Ada Lovelace was an English
mathematician and writer, chiefly
known for her work on Charles
Babbage's early mechanical
general-purpose computer, the
Analytical Engine. Her notes on
the engine include what is
recognised as the first algorithm
intended to be processed by a
machine. Because of this, she is
often described as the world's
first computer programmer.
3. The beginnings of Ada
Lovelace
Ada Lovelace was born in London in 1815,
and was the only legitimate child of
Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella
Milbanke. Ada showed an early interest
in mathematics and science which she
pursued through private tutors and
studies at home.
4. A collaboration
between Ada Lovelace
and Charles Babbage
◦ In 1833, Ada Lovelace met Charles Babbage,
who was working on a machine called the
Analytical Engine that could perform
mathematical calculations. Ada became
interested in the machine and began to work
with Babbage on its development.
◦ Ada's work not only popularised Babbage's
ideas but also helped develope them further
through both theoretical analysis and
practical experimentation; something that
would have been impossible without her
methematical skillset and understanding of
how machines worked. As such, Ada Lovelace
is rightly considered one of history's most
important figures in both computing and
science.
5. Lovelace's notes are important in the early history of computers, especially since
the seventh one contained what many consider to be the first computer program—that
is, an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine. Other historians reject
this perspective and point out that Babbage's personal notes from the years
1836/1837 contain the first programs for the engine. She also developed a vision of
the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching, while
many others, including Babbage himself, focused only on those capabilities. Her
mindset of "poetical science" led her to ask questions about the Analytical Engine
(as shown in her notes) examining how individuals and society relate to technology
as a collaborative tool.
6.
7. From 1832, when Ada was seventeen, her mathematical abilities began to emerge,and
her interest in mathematics dominated the majority of her adult life. She was
privately educated in mathematics and science by William Frend, William King, and
Mary Somerville, the noted 19th-century researcher and scientific author.
In a letter to Lady Byron, De Morgan suggested that Ada's skill in mathematics might
lead her to become "an original mathematical investigator, perhaps of first-rate
eminence".
8. Lovelace often questioned basic assumptions
through integrating poetry and science. Whilst
studying differential calculus, she wrote to De
Morgan:
I may remark that the curious transformations
many formulae can undergo, the unsuspected and
to a beginner apparently impossible identity of
forms exceedingly dissimilar at first sight, is
I think one of the chief difficulties in the
early part of mathematical studies. I am often
reminded of certain sprites and fairies one
reads of, who are at one's elbows in one shape
now, and the next minute in a form most
dissimilar.
Sonnet titled The
Rainbow in Lovelace's
own hand
9. The last years of
Ada Lovelace's life
◦ In 1843, Ada published a paper detailing
her ideas for how the Analytical Engine
could be used to create music as well as
calculate numbers. This paper is considered
to be the first ever description of a
computer program. Ada continued to work
with Babbage on developing his machines
until her death in 1852 at the age of 37.
10. Ada Lovelace –
famous quotes
"The more I study, the more insatiable do I feel my
genius for it to be."
"Your best and wisest refuge from all troubles is
in your science."
"The science of operations, as derived from
mathematics more especially, is a science of
itself, and has its own abstract truth and value."
"Understand well as I may, my comprehension can
only be an infinitesimal fraction of all I want to
understand"