Ada Lovelace
Lovelace’s notes framed a machine as something that could manipulate symbols under instructions, a foundational idea for programming. Her work belongs in computing history without overstating what the unfinished Analytical Engine could do.
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, worked with Charles Babbage on the Analytical Engine. Her 1843 translation and extensive notes on an Italian account of the engine included a procedure for calculating Bernoulli numbers.
Programming as an idea
Her notes also considered a distinction between a machine’s operations and the ideas represented by those operations. That conceptual move remains important to the history of software and computing.
In memoriam
Lovelace died in 1852, aged 36. Her work continues to be studied as part of the early history of programming.
Timeline
- 1815-12-10Born in London, England.
- 1843Publishes notes on the Analytical Engine, including the Bernoulli-number algorithm.
- 1852-11-27Dies in London, England.
Ada Lovelace
- Type
- Person
- Era
- 1830s-1852
- Born
- 1815
- Died
- 1852
- Known for
- computing; programming; mathematics; historical-pioneer
- Tags
- computing, programming, mathematics, historical-pioneer
Created by Joas A Santos · Something wrong or want it removed? Open an issue.