Have you ever imagined life without Google, without Facebook, Wikipedia or any other platform? Probably not! Or in any case, in this context, it is difficult to imagine our lives without any of these developments. These platforms are based on open source or freeware, but they were only possible after many years of research, some inventions, and the contributions of mathematicians like Ada Lovelace.
Ada Augusta Byronwho due to her marriage to the Earl of Lovelace would later be better known as Ada Lovelacewas born in London, United Kingdom on December 10, 1815. As if it were a harbinger of what her life and her contributions would represent for the world of computing, Ada was born in a context of revolution.
In that year, England, Austria and Prussia signed a treaty to restore the monarchies and prevent the ideas of the French Revolution from spreading again. Despite this treaty, liberal and democratic ideas continued to spread throughout Europe, which would favor the work of Ada Lovelace later.
Ada Lovelace she was the daughter of a mathematician and astronomer Anne Isabella Noel Byronbetter known as Lady Byronsurname that she acquired after marrying the poet George Gordon Byron. Due to the personality of the poet, excessive and eccentric, bordering on madness, Lady Byron decided to separate from him a month after the birth of little Ada. Despite the separation Lord Byron He always loved his daughter, and as a sign of his love, he wrote poems for her.
It is your face like your mother’s, my beautiful girl
Ada! Only daughter of my house and my heart
When I saw you, your tender eyes smiled…
…My daughter! With your name this song began
My daughter, with your name must also end
Lord Byron
It was so that Ada grew up with her mother, and reading the letters that her father sent her. In one of those letters she told him that she wanted to meet her, and apparently little Ada also wanted to meet her father. But how Lord Byron he had been involved in the revolution, he died in Greece from malaria, so he was no longer able to meet his daughter who was 8 years old at the time.
Although for the time in which he lived Ada Lovelaceit was not well seen by society for women to study mathematics and sciences because they considered them “difficult subjects” for them, Lady Byron He chose to instruct the little girl in these subjects, since he did not want Ada to follow in her father’s footsteps or develop his changeable and unpredictable character.
Although Ada showed more interest in geography and studied mathematics and logic at the imposition of her mother, she demonstrated her talent for these subjects, which would also favor her future contributions.
Lady Somervillethe first woman to be part of the Royal Academy of Astronomywas not only the most important tutor of the young Ada, but also a great influence in developing her taste for music, as she took her to concerts.
The encounter that would change the life of Ada Lovelace… and the course of computing
On June 5, 1833, Lady Somerville He held a party at his house, to which he no doubt invited Ada. But she did not imagine that her destiny would change from that day on, because there, among the crowd of people who recognized her as the daughter of Lord Byronhe met his friend and great promoter of his work, Charles Babbage.
Charles Babbage he had developed his work on the analytical engine, a machine for doing mathematical calculations in which he foresaw great potential. At the age of 17, Ada she was fascinated by Babbage’s work and, some time after this meeting, the mathematician would invite her to collaborate with him.
In the book Calculating Passion of Ada Byronby Joan Baum, collects the words of the mathematician about this first encounter with Ada Lovelace:
Seeing Ada for the first time… reminded me of a delicate silver female figure with graceful movements, who was the first automaton I saw in the attic of the house of a man named Merlin, when I was a child.
… later I bought that figure to display it in my living room and the most fascinated by this metal figure was my dear friend Ada.
Charles Babbage
Ada was the first to see the Difference Engine before Babbage finished it. Seeing that Ada had become quite involved in these issues, and as part of her collaboration, the mathematician asked Ada to add notes to an article by the engineer. Luigi Menabreanotes that would later be considered the first computer program.
Ada continued to develop in science. After collaborating with Babbage, she collaborated with Woronzow Greig to develop a mathematical model of the nervous system. Requested help from electrical engineer andrew crosse to learn how to do experiments with electricity.
Ada Lovelace, between rumors, horses and bets
At the age of 19, Ada married William King, the Earl of Lovelace, thereby acquiring this surname. The fact that King supported her in everything she did with her and her fondness for horses and horsemanship that they both shared, were the main reasons why she married him. They had 2 children, Anabella and Ralph Gordon.
Like her father, Ada became a topic of conversation for the society that surrounded her both because of her development in science, because of her hobbies, and because it was rumored that she had love affairs with other men besides her husband.
Something for which he also gave something to talk about was the loss of his family jewels. The reason? Ada Lovelace created a system based on the theory of probability to make money in horse racing, a system that turned out to be not foolproof. Then people started saying that Ada was addicted to gambling and betting.
This fascinating life would be interrupted at the age of 36, when Ada died of uterine cancer, which at that time was diagnosed as hysteria. In the letter that Ada sent to her mother a year before she died, she told him about her achievements in mathematics and music.
Ada Lovelace was a complete scientist, balancing her intuition, imagination, and passion for what she did with her remarkable math and science skills.
Although now many mathematicians and computer scientists (mostly men) question her contributions to computing, the work of Ada Lovelace was recognized by using her name to name a programming language used in environments that require high security. The Lovelace Medal, which was instituted by the British Computer Society, is awarded to those who excel in the development of computing.
Also, the second Tuesday of every October became the Ada Lovelace Daywhich honors women’s contributions to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
What do you think of the story of this entrepreneurial and pioneering woman? If you want to be inspired by the story of other women entrepreneurs, we share 8 influential women to admire.
Rocio Reyes Communicologist specialized in science journalism and digital marketing. Curiosity leads this being with a cat personality to find links where apparently there are none. Whenever I can, I like to contribute even a bit of what I’ve learned. Fan of the world of entrepreneurship and MMA.