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. 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. Lovelace's notes are important in the early history of computers, containing what many consider to be the first computer program-that is, an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine. Lovelace first met him in June 1833, through their mutual friend, and her private tutor, Mary Somerville.īetween 18, Ada translated an article by the military engineer Luigi Menabrea (later Prime Minister of Italy) about the Analytical Engine, supplementing it with an elaborate set of notes, simply called 'Notes'. She was in particular interested in Babbage's work on the Analytical Engine. When she was eighteen, her mathematical talents led her to a long working relationship and friendship with fellow British mathematician Charles Babbage, who is known as 'the father of computers'. Ada described her approach as 'poetical science' and herself as an 'Analyst (& Metaphysician)'. Her educational and social exploits brought her into contact with scientists such as Andrew Crosse, Charles Babbage, Sir David Brewster, Charles Wheatstone, Michael Faraday, and the author Charles Dickens, contacts which she used to further her education. King was made Earl of Lovelace in 1838, Ada thereby becoming Countess of Lovelace.

Although often ill in her childhood, Ada pursued her studies assiduously. Upon her death, she was buried next to him at her request. Despite this, Ada remained interested in him, naming her two sons Byron and Gordon. Her mother remained bitter and promoted Ada's interest in mathematics and logic in an effort to prevent her from developing her father's perceived insanity.

Four months later, he commemorated the parting in a poem that begins, 'Is thy face like thy mother's my fair child! ADA! sole daughter of my house and heart?' He died in Greece when Ada was eight. Byron separated from his wife a month after Ada was born and left England forever. All of Byron's other children were born out of wedlock to other women. Īda Byron was the only legitimate child of poet Lord Byron and Lady Byron. As a result, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer. She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and to have published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace ( née Byron 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine.

The enchantress of numbers