Ada essays

Ada essays Throughout the history of the development of computers, there are many instrumental figures .For the most part, when researching about the pioneers of computing, just like various other scientific areas, one wouldnt find many women in the discussion. However, one very important exception is Ada Byron Lovelace. An English mathematician, Lovelace is known by many as the original computer programmer. Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, was born on December 10, 1815. Her parents were a woman named Anne Isabella Milbanke and the famous poet Lord Byron, well known for scathing criticisms of Britains society. Unfortunately, Lord Byron never played a role in his daughters life, because shortly after Adas birth, Anne asked for a separation from Lord Byron, and shortly thereafter, Byron left for Italy and never saw his daughter again (he died in Greece fighting the Turks when Ada was 8) . However, despite having no real relationship with one another, people who knew Ada and Lord Byron talked of the similarities between the two: their looks, the fact they both had great achievements in their lives, and that they both died at the age of 36. Anne Isabella Milbanke was strongly determined to make sure that her daughter did not grow up to be a poet like her famous father. To be sure that Ada did not become a poet, Anne had her tutored in mathematics and music. At the age of 17, Ada met and befriended Mary Somerville, a mathematician who published a book about mathematical astronomy entitled The Mechanism of The Heavens. It was through this friendship that Ada met Charles Babbage in 1833. When Ada met Babbage, he had already achieved acclaim for inventing the Difference Engine, a device designed to handle complicated math problems. She and Babbage fostered a friendship, and in 1834, Babbage went to work on the Analytical Engine, which was to read data from punch cards, store data, and perform arit ...