Meet Ada Lovelace: the world’s first programmer

Happy #AdaLovelaceDay!

Today the world is celebrating the incredible achievements of women working in STEM fields and the first ever programmer, Ada Lovelace. Timelines, newsfeeds and conversations will be full of mentions about this remarkable woman and her work- but who exactly was Ada and why is she so famous?

Below, we’ve summarised the key things you need to know about Ada -prepared to be impressed and inspired!

Let’s start with her actual name… what is it?

So, everyone knows her as Ada Lovelace but that’s more of a nickname the world has given her. Her real name is Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace.

Where and when was she born?

Ada was born on the 10th December 1815 in London. She was the child of Annabella Milbanke and the famous poet Lord Byron.

What was she like growing up?

From an early age, it was pretty clear that Ada was exceptionally bright and talented. Unlike most aristocratic girls in the early 1800s, Ada was taught maths and science in depth. At the time, these subjects were deemed too challenging for women (let’s all take a second to roll our eyes) but Ada’s mother insisted she learn these to stop becoming selfish and unpredictable like her father.

She was taught by some of the best minds including social reformer William Frend and astronomer and mathematician Mary Somerville, who was one of the first female members of the Royal Astronomical Society.

How did she become known as the first programmer?

At age 17, Ada met the British inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage who she became friends with and was also mentored by. Babbage created a computer known as the analytical engine which was designed to tackle complex mathematical problems.

Whilst studying Ada was later asked to translate an article about Babbage’s analytical engine for a Swiss journal. Not only did Ada translate the article but also added her own thoughts and ideas about the machine which led to the article being three times longer than the original.

Ada’s notes included some “out there” ideas: she believed computers could do more than just number crunching but could be used to process advanced algorithms and actually wrote an equation which is considered the world’s first computer algorithm. She also described how codes could be created for the device to understand letters and symbols along with numbers — sound familiar?

How has she influenced the world of tech?

Sadly, Ada’s life was cut short when she died aged 36 from cancer but her legacy lives on.

Ada played a pivotal role in tech history and her work led to future programmers such as Grace Hopper and Alan Turing make huge discoveries in computing which has had a substantial impact on the world.

She paved the path for women to work in tech. Over 200 years later Ada is continuing to keep us inspired. We tell our students about Ada when they start coding to show them what can and will be achieved.

How do I find out more?

We said you would be impressed. Check out the links below to learn more about the legendary Ada.

The life of Ada Lovelace — a podcast by BBC 4 discussing Ada’s extraordinary life in depth.

Ada Lovelace: The Original Woman in Tech — a great TED talk about Ada’s life and why we must tell the stories of female innovators.

Finding Ada — everything you need to know about Ada from the founders of Ada Lovelace day.