Posted on Jun 5, 2021
Biography of Ada Lovelace, First Computer Programmer
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On June 5, 1833, Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and "the first computer programmer", met Charles Babbage, "the father of the computer". From the article:
"In June 1833 Lovelace’s tutor, Mary Somerville, introduced her to British mathematician, philosopher, and inventor Charles Babbage, now widely considered to have been the “father of the computer.” As the two mathematicians began to develop what would become a lifelong friendship, Lovelace became fascinated with Babbage’s groundbreaking work on his mechanical calculating device, he called the Analytical Engine."
In 1842, Babbage asked Lovelace to translate from French into English a scholarly article on his calculating machine written by Italian military engineer Luigi Menabrea. Ada not only translated the article, but she also supplemented it with an elaborate analytical section she simply titled “Notes,” comprised of Note A to Note G. Lovelace’s seven notes, now revered as a milestone in the history of computers, contained what many consider to have been the first computer program—a structured set of instructions to be carried out by a machine. In her Note G, Lovelace describes an algorithm that would instruct Babbage’s Analytical Engine to accurately compute Bernoulli numbers. Today it is considered to have been the first algorithm specifically created to be implemented on a computer, and the reason Lovelace is often called the first computer programmer. Since Babbage never completed his Analytical Engine, Lovelace’s program was never tested. However, her process for having a machine repeat a series of instructions, called “looping,” remains a staple of computer programming today."
"In June 1833 Lovelace’s tutor, Mary Somerville, introduced her to British mathematician, philosopher, and inventor Charles Babbage, now widely considered to have been the “father of the computer.” As the two mathematicians began to develop what would become a lifelong friendship, Lovelace became fascinated with Babbage’s groundbreaking work on his mechanical calculating device, he called the Analytical Engine."
In 1842, Babbage asked Lovelace to translate from French into English a scholarly article on his calculating machine written by Italian military engineer Luigi Menabrea. Ada not only translated the article, but she also supplemented it with an elaborate analytical section she simply titled “Notes,” comprised of Note A to Note G. Lovelace’s seven notes, now revered as a milestone in the history of computers, contained what many consider to have been the first computer program—a structured set of instructions to be carried out by a machine. In her Note G, Lovelace describes an algorithm that would instruct Babbage’s Analytical Engine to accurately compute Bernoulli numbers. Today it is considered to have been the first algorithm specifically created to be implemented on a computer, and the reason Lovelace is often called the first computer programmer. Since Babbage never completed his Analytical Engine, Lovelace’s program was never tested. However, her process for having a machine repeat a series of instructions, called “looping,” remains a staple of computer programming today."
Biography of Ada Lovelace, First Computer Programmer
Posted from thoughtco.com
Computers
Programming
World History
Literature
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Posted 3 y ago
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Her Note G also expressed Lovelace’s rejection of the concept of artificial intelligence or the idea that robotic machines can be made capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. “The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything,” she wrote. “It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can follow analysis, but it has no power of anticipating any analytical relations or truths.” Lovelace’s dismissal of artificial intelligence long remained the subject of debate. For example, iconic computer genius Alan Turing specifically refuted her observations in his 1950 paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” In 2018, a rare first edition of Lovelace’s notes sold at auction for 95,000 pounds ($125,000) in the United Kingdom.
Lovelace was held in high regard by her peers. In an 1843 letter to Michael Faraday, Babbage referred to her as “that Enchantress who has thrown her magical spell around the most abstract of Sciences and has grasped it with a force which few masculine intellects (in our own country at least) could have exerted over it.”
Personal Life
Ada Lovelace’s socialite-like personal life was in sharp contrast to her isolated childhood and dedication to the study of mathematics and science. Along with Charles Babbage, her close friends included kaleidoscope creator Sir David Brewster, electric motor inventor Michael Faraday, and popular novelist Charles Dickens. In 1832, at age 17, Ada became a regular celebrity at the Court of King William IV, where she was known as “a popular belle of the season” and celebrated for her “brilliant mind.”
In July 1835, Lovelace married William, 8th Baron King, becoming Lady King. Between 1836 and 1839, the couple had three children: Byron, Annabella, and Ralph Gordon. In 1838, Ada became Countess of Lovelace when William IV made her husband the Earl of Lovelace. Typical of members of the English aristocracy of the day, the family lived seasonally in three homes, including mansions located in Surry and London, and on a sizeable estate on Scotland’s Loch Torridon.
During the late 1840s, even as her acclaim as an accomplished mathematician grew, Lovelace became the subject of scandals arising from rumors of her involvement in extra-marital romantic affairs and an uncontrollable secret gambling habit. By 1851, she had reportedly lost the modern equivalent of nearly $400,000.00 betting on horse racing. Hoping to recoup her losses, Ada created a complex mathematical formula for winning at the track and convinced a syndicate of her male friends, including Charles Babbage, to bankroll her efforts to use it. However, as with all such “sure-fire” gambling systems, Ada’s was doomed to failure. Her mounting losses from making big bets on slow horses left her deeply in debt to the syndicate and forced her to reveal her gambling habit to her husband.
Her Note G also expressed Lovelace’s rejection of the concept of artificial intelligence or the idea that robotic machines can be made capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. “The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything,” she wrote. “It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can follow analysis, but it has no power of anticipating any analytical relations or truths.” Lovelace’s dismissal of artificial intelligence long remained the subject of debate. For example, iconic computer genius Alan Turing specifically refuted her observations in his 1950 paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” In 2018, a rare first edition of Lovelace’s notes sold at auction for 95,000 pounds ($125,000) in the United Kingdom.
Lovelace was held in high regard by her peers. In an 1843 letter to Michael Faraday, Babbage referred to her as “that Enchantress who has thrown her magical spell around the most abstract of Sciences and has grasped it with a force which few masculine intellects (in our own country at least) could have exerted over it.”
Personal Life
Ada Lovelace’s socialite-like personal life was in sharp contrast to her isolated childhood and dedication to the study of mathematics and science. Along with Charles Babbage, her close friends included kaleidoscope creator Sir David Brewster, electric motor inventor Michael Faraday, and popular novelist Charles Dickens. In 1832, at age 17, Ada became a regular celebrity at the Court of King William IV, where she was known as “a popular belle of the season” and celebrated for her “brilliant mind.”
In July 1835, Lovelace married William, 8th Baron King, becoming Lady King. Between 1836 and 1839, the couple had three children: Byron, Annabella, and Ralph Gordon. In 1838, Ada became Countess of Lovelace when William IV made her husband the Earl of Lovelace. Typical of members of the English aristocracy of the day, the family lived seasonally in three homes, including mansions located in Surry and London, and on a sizeable estate on Scotland’s Loch Torridon.
During the late 1840s, even as her acclaim as an accomplished mathematician grew, Lovelace became the subject of scandals arising from rumors of her involvement in extra-marital romantic affairs and an uncontrollable secret gambling habit. By 1851, she had reportedly lost the modern equivalent of nearly $400,000.00 betting on horse racing. Hoping to recoup her losses, Ada created a complex mathematical formula for winning at the track and convinced a syndicate of her male friends, including Charles Babbage, to bankroll her efforts to use it. However, as with all such “sure-fire” gambling systems, Ada’s was doomed to failure. Her mounting losses from making big bets on slow horses left her deeply in debt to the syndicate and forced her to reveal her gambling habit to her husband.
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