Contents
Ada Lovelace
Recognising what a programmable machine could do beyond arithmetic.
Analytical Engine · Early computing
- Born
- 10 December 1815
- Birthplace
- London, England
- Died
- 27 November 1852
More people
Ada Lovelace
An English mathematician whose notes on Charles Babbage’s proposed machine explored the possibilities of general-purpose computation.
Early life
Family background
Daughter of poet Lord Byron and Anne Isabella Milbanke.
Private education
Studied mathematics with tutors and corresponded with scientists.
Career
- 1833
Meeting Babbage
Began a long intellectual association with the inventor.
- 1842–1843
Translation and research
Translated Luigi Menabrea’s account of the Analytical Engine and expanded it with notes.
- 1843
Publication
Her notes appeared with the translated article.
Contributions
Note G
Outlined a procedure for calculating Bernoulli numbers.
Beyond numbers
Considered how a machine might manipulate symbols, including musical relationships.
Beyond work
Family
Married William King in 1835 and had three children.
Title
Became Countess of Lovelace when her husband received an earldom in 1838.
Sources & photo credit
Biographical reference ↗Science Museum: Lovelace’s vision ↗Photo: Antoine Claudet. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
