Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer. She is known as the first computer programmer.

Ada Lovelace
Born	(1815-12-10)10 December 1815 London, England
Died	27 November 1852(1852-11-27) (aged 36) Marylebone, London, England
Nationality	British
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics, computing

Blue plaque to Lovelace in St. James's Square, London

Achievements

Lovelace wrote the first computer program in 1844. It was for Charles Babbage's machine, the "Analytical Engine". This machine was never built, but her program was the first algorithm made for a computer.

Between 1842 and 1843, she translated an article by Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea. She added notes with her own ideas. These notes included the first computer program. Her work is important in the early history of computers.^[1]

She understood that computers could do more than just math. Others, like Babbage, thought computers could only do calculations.^[2][3]

Childhood

Ada was born on 10 December 1815. Her parents were Lord Byron, a famous poet, and Anne Isabella Milbanke. Her parents separated soon after she was born. She never knew her father. Her mother was an aristocrat and gave Ada a good education at home. She became interested in mathematics, partly because of Babbage.^[4]

Later life

In 1835, Lovelace married William King. They had three children. She got cholera, but survived. She also had asthma and stomach problems. She took strong painkillers, which led to an addiction to opium. She died of uterine cancer in London on 27 November 1852.

Recognition

The U.S. Department of Defense named Ada (programming language) in her honor.