Those who have studied English literature may be surprised to learn that Ada Lovelace, born Augusta Ada Byron, was the daughter of renowned poet Lord Byron<\/a>. Her mother was Lady Anne Isabella Milbanke Byron<\/a>, a very religious and educated woman. Young Ada displayed a talent in mathematics from an early age. One of her most renowned works is the translation of an article about a machine invented by Charles Babbage<\/a>: She added her own commentary to the translation that was longer than the article itself, including details about how the machine could be used to carry out a series of instructions. With her vast knowledge of mathematics and her vision of what was possible for the future of machines, she is today known as the first programmer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lovelace was born in London on Dec. 10, 1815, the only legitimate child of Lord Byron. Little more than a month after her birth, her mother, fed up with her husband’s scandalous behavior, left him, taking baby Ada with her; Ada never saw Byron again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an effort to keep Lovelace from becoming like her father, her mother hired tutors to educate her in science and math, an education not typical for women of the time. Lovelace was an apt pupil who studies with a variety of talented minds, including Mary Somerville, one of the first female members of the Royal Astronomical Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At age 17, Lovelace met one of the most important people in her life. Charles Babbage was a renowned mathematician and inventor of the era. The friendship that formed between the two scientific minds influenced Lovelace to pursue studies in advanced mathematics at the University of London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, Babbage is known as the father of the modern-day computer. His first major invention was the Difference Engine, a machine that would perform simple calculations. Lovelace was a witness to the creation of the machine and took interest in Babbage’s work. After this invention, Babbage planned to build the Analytical Engine, which would be able to perform more advanced calculations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Babbage traveled to Turin, Italy, and gave lectures about his machine. In the audience for one of these lectures was engineer Luigi Menabrea, who wrote a paper on the Analytical Engine in French. Lovelace was asked to translate the article, but the result was much more than a translation. Besides translating the original text, she added her own ideas about the workings of the machine, and her notes were three times longer than the original article. This translation was published in 1843 with her initials added to the final copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The material Lovelace added clearly described how codes could help the machine work with more than just numbers. She also put forth a theory about how the machine could use sets of repeated instructions, a concept known as looping by modern software developers. Her notes, although not put into practice in their time, proved to be possible with today’s technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lovelace’s work went largely unnoticed at the time, and later in her life, she would turn her attention toward creating mathematical approaches to gambling. These efforts failed, however, endangered her finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEarly Years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Analytical Engine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Private Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n