Ada Lovelace: How Her Computing Genius Paved Way For Tech Innovation

Every year, the second Tuesday of October is celebrated as 'Ada Lovelace Day', in commemoration of the mathematician who is widely regarded as the world's first computer programmer. Ada Lovelace from the United Kingdom thought differently. She debunked myths surrounding women and their aptitude in science and became the world’s first computer programmer. Besides this, she was also a brilliant mathematician.

A child prodigy

Ada Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815. Her father, Lord Byron was an eminent poet while her mother Anne Isabelle Milbanke was a mathematician. But her parents separated two months after her birth. At a time when women were not allowed to own property and had few legal rights, Anne fought for the custody of Ada.

Ada pursued Maths and Science under the tutelage of William Frend who was a social reformer. Her first professor of Mathematics at the University of London assisted her in her advanced studies. She could build intricate model boats dexterously at the young age of 8.  At the age of 13, she produced a design for a machine that could fly.

Besides her technical skills, Ada also showed great interest in music and made relentless efforts to learn to play a variety of musical instruments. She was also fond of other arts like literature and needlepoint embroidery. Ada was familiar with the repetitive patterns used for handicrafts and used similarly repetitive steps for mathematical calculations. 

Contributions to the world's first computer

• Ada worked along with Charles Babbage and invented a computer program that she called “The Plan”, which later became known as ‘The Analytical Engine of 1843’.
• She also translated one of Charles Babbage’s papers into English at his request.
• Ada Lovelace's notes were labelled alphabetically from A to G. In note G, she describes an algorithm for the Analytical Engine to compute Bernoulli numbers.
• The first published algorithm ever specifically tailored for implementation on a computer is by her.
• Ada Lovelace's notes on Babbage's Analytical Engine were found and republished in 1953 after her death. The engine has gained the recognition of an early model for a computer and her notes as a description of a computer and software.

Death and legacy

Ada died of uterine cancer at the young age of 36 but her gigantic contributions in science and engineering continue to be celebrated. The second Tuesday of every October is observed as Ada Lovelace Day to acknowledge her contributions and celebrate her efforts for more women in STEM. 

In 1979, a software language developed by the US Department of Defense was named Ada. In 2017, a Google Doodle also commemorated her on International Women's Day. In 2018, The New York Times added her to the top of their “missing obituaries” list of women in history who went unrecognised.