Women You Should Know: Ada Lovelace

You have Ada Lovelace to thank, in part, for whatever device on which you are reading this blog post. Daughter of the English poet George Gordon Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace is widely considered to be the inventor of the computer algorithm, making her the first known computer programmer in history.

Born Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, Ada was instructed in science and mathematics from an early age (thanks to her mother’s insistence that she not follow in her poetic father’s footsteps.)

By the age of 17, Lovelace was being mentored by Charles Babbage, whose Analytical Machine and algorithms would pave the way for the modern computer.

Read more about Ada Lovelace here.

Pictured here is Lovelace's diagram from "note G", the first published computer algorithm.

Here are some books about Ada Lovelace for young mathematicians and programmers in your life!