Ada Byron Lovelace

Ada Byron Lovelace (1815 – 1852)

Ada Byron Lovelace August Ada Byron was born December 10, 1815. A few weeks after Ada was born, her mother and father separated. Ada’s mother, Lady Byron, encouraged Ada to be a mathematician or a scientist as she grew up, she did not want Ada to become a poet like her father. Lady Byron had Ada receive tutoring in music and specially mathematics. She worked with Charles Babbage and invented a computer program that she called “The plan”, it was called The Analytical Engine of 1843. Ada married Lord William King, and had three children. She died of cancer in 1852 when she was only 36. At the age of 17 Ada met an extraordinary woman, Mary Somerville, this woman really helped Ada by encouraging her with her studies. One day, Ada and Mary went to a party, it was November, 1834, they both heard Babbage's ideas for a new calculating engine, the Analytical Engine. Ada was really interested on his ideas. Not many others were. In 1841 Babbage wrote a summary about his ideas in French and Ada translated it and showed it to him, he told her that she could add some of her ideas and the article ended up being three times longer. She added predictions on how this machine could be able to compose complex music and make graphics. All of these things were true. This plan is now considered the first computer program. In 1979, A software language developed by the U.S. Department of Defense was named "Ada" in her honor.

Ada Byron has contributed tremendously to the field of computer science. The notes that she added to Babbage's Analytical Engine appear everywhere on the internet. She is the one that would “lay the foundations for the world's first computer program”.

Works Cited Page

"Ada Lovelace." The Great Idea Finder. Internet. 11 Feb 2009 .

"Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace." Biographies of Famous Women Mathematicians. Internet. 11 Feb 2009< http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/WOMEN/love.htm>

Ortiz, Edward. "SCIENCE HERO: AUGUSTA ADA BYRON ."My Hero. Internet. 11 Feb 2009 .