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WHO WAS ADA LOVELACE ?

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace better known as "Ada Lovelace" , was an English mathematician and writer with great gift for mathematics which she showed at an early age. She was the first to recognize the full potential of a "computing machine". She published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine, and she introduced many computer concepts. As a result Lovelace is considered “the first computer programmer”.

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EARLY YEARS

Ada Lovelace, born as Augusta Ada Byron on December 10, 1815, was the only legitimate child of the famous poet Lord George Gordon Byron.

Lovelace had an unusual upbringing for an aristocratic girl in the mid-1800s. At her mother's insistence, tutors taught her mathematics and science. Such challenging subjects were not standard fare for women at the time, but her mother believed that engaging in rigorous studies would prevent Lovelace from developing her father's moody and unpredictable temperament.

From early on, Lovelace showed a talent for numbers and language.

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THE ANALYTICAL ENGINE

Around the age of 17 (in 1833), Ada met Charles Babbage, a mathematician and inventor, who served as a mentor to Lovelace. Through Babbage, Lovelace began studying advanced mathematics.

Babbage was known as the inventor of the Difference Engine, an elaborate calculating machine that operated by the method of finite differences.

In 1834, Babbage had made plans for a new kind of calculating machine - Analytical Engine (an early predecessor of the modern computer), although the first one (Difference Engine) was not finished.

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ADA LOVELACE’S NOTES

In 1842, Italian mathematician, Luigi Menabrea published article in French on the subject of the Analytical Engine, because Parliamentary sponsors refused to support Babbage’s second machine with the first unfinished.

Lovelace translated Menabrea’s article supplying her own notes on it. The notes were around three times longer than the article itself and include complete details.

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. It is considered to be the first published algorithm ever specifically tailored for implementation on a computer.

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ADA LOVELACE’S NOTES

In her notes, Lovelace emphasised the difference between the Analytical Engine and previous calculating machines, particularly its ability to be programmed to solve problems of any complexity.

Lovelace described how codes could be created for the device to handle letters and symbols along with numbers. She also theorized a method for the engine to repeat a series of instructions, a process known as looping that computer programs use today. Lovelace also offered up other forward-thinking concepts in the article.

Lovelace's article attracted little attention when she was alive.

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ADA LOVELACE’S CONTRIBUTIONS

Ada’s notes were published in 1843, but theory within it was so revolutionary that it took over a century for it to be recognised as the first computer algorithm.

Lovelace's contributions to the field of computer science were not discovered until the 1950s. Her notes were reintroduced to the world by B.V. Bowden, who republished them in Faster Than Thought: A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines in 1953.

Since then, Ada has received many posthumous honors for her work. In 1980, the U.S. Department of Defense named a newly developed computer language "Ada".

Lovelace died at the age of 36 on November 10, 1852 from uterine cancer.

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WHAT ADA LOVELACE DAY PRESENTS

“Tuesday 13 October 2020 is Ada Lovelace Day, an international day celebrating the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths.”

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FIRST ADA LOVELACE DAY

Ada Lovelace Day was launched in 2009, founded by Suw Charman-Anderson.

Nearly 2,000 people signed up to blog about a woman in technology whom they admired on 24 March. The day was an astounding success, with contributors writing blog posts, newspaper columns and even a webcomic. The media covered Ada Lovelace Day with enthusiasm, including coverage from The Guardian, The Telegraph, the BBC and Computer Weekly amongst others.

Now held every year on the second Tuesday of October.

This year, Ada Lovelace Day is going back to its roots with a day of blogging, Twittering and Facebooking

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WHY ARE WE CELEBRATING ADA LOVELACE DAY

Main purpose of this day is to encourage girls and women to aim for their dream job.

Despite evidence that girls do well in such subjects at school, few go on to study them at university and even fewer then get jobs in these fields.

Ada Lovelace Day aims to address this problem by encouraging people to shine a light on the women in STEM that they admire. By talking about women in these fields, we hope to raise not just their profiles, but the profile of every woman.

It also aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and, in doing so, create new role models who will encourage more girls into STEM careers and support women already working in STEM.

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SOME FUN FACTS

The first programmer in the world was a woman ( yes, it was Ada Lovelace )
The word computer “bug” was inspired by a real bug. It was founded by Grace Hopper in 1947.
Hedy Lamarr created the communication system that would later become the basis for WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak may have created Apple, but it was Susan Kare’s design skills that defined Apple’s user experience for generations.

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NOT SO FUN FACTS ...

Many companies have fewer than 20 percent women in tech roles. Facebook, for example, has just 17 percent women in technology based roles, while Twitter has just 10 percent.
According to the desk research conducted by RightsTech Women, only 23% of STEM graduates in the United States are women. In Western Europe, it is even worse: in Switzerland, only 11% of STEM graduates are women, 16% in France, and 7% in Belgium.

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HOW TO CELEBRATE ADA LOVELACE DAY

The obvious place to start is by getting to know more about Ada Lovelace and her achievements.

You can also spend some time learning about other women in this industry who have had a massive impact. We will give you some names to give you a helping hand with your research!

How about the world’s first astronaut-neurologist and Canada’s first female astronaut? These titles go to Roberta Bondar.

Another woman that is definitely worth a mention on Ada Lovelace Day is Adriana Ocampo, the Science Program Manager at NASA Headquarters. Her research led to the discovery of the Chicxulub impact crater.

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Another woman who has made her mark on the STEM industries is Irene Au. She has built outstanding design teams for the likes of Yahoo and Google, yet her biggest accomplishment has to be the creation of her own program of study in the field of human-computer interaction.

Ellen Ochoa became the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery.

Rosalind Franklin was a British chemist and crystallographer, best known for her research that was essential to elucidating the structure of DNA.

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