A look back at one of the innovators of computing and with a stretch an original enabler of modern day hackers! (As Clive says we cannot always be serious here!)
Ada Lovelace was born Augusta Ada Byron, the daughter of Lord Byron the poet. Her parents’ marriage was short-lived and when she was merely weeks old Byron left, went abroad and never saw his daughter again.
It is hoped that he contributed towards her upbringing however, as she and her mother lived in some style. Both were interested in mathematics and science, and Ada’s mother invited many of the contemporary luminaries to her “at home” sessions, as well as giving her the best possible education in mathematics and science. In this way Ada was introduced to Charles Babbage at the tender age of 17 and began a mutually respectful and academic friendship which lasted until her early death from cancer just before her 37th birthday.
Ada was fascinated by Babbage’s prototype difference engine, which had taken years to build, and she was even more fascinated by his later design for a much more complicated computer, the analytical engine. This would have had an arithmetic logic unit, conditional branching and loops and an integrated memory and was about a hundred years ahead of its time. The model was never actually built, but this did not stop Ada from writing some code for the computer to find Bernoulli numbers, thus developing the very first algorithm and becoming the very first computer programmer. Just to push Clive’s risky stretch, modern day hackers use algorithms to break into computers, so she led the way!
Ada is chiefly remembered these days every second Tuesday in October, when Ada Lovelace Day celebrates the achievements of women and acts as encouragement for young women to study STEM subjects and pursue careers in those areas.
Diana Catton MBA – by line and other articles
