International Womens Day Tribute Two

As the more enlightened of you might know the 8^th of March is International Women’s days. In honour of this, I will be writing a small article about 7 women whom I believe should be celebrated more for their achievements, and then posting one article each day in the week proceeding the 8^th of March. Now some of you might know a lot more about the subjects then I do, which is all well and good, remember these are women I believe should be more celebrated because I haven’t heard about them a lot. As the articles will be brief I ask you to look up more on these extraordinary women yourself.

Name: Augusta Ada King aka Ada Lovelace

Born: 10 December 1815

Died: 27 November 1852

From: United Kingdom

Should be known more for: Advancements in the fields of Computing

OK this lady I am told by two of my obviously more learned friends, is very widely known, though truth be told I really didn't really know anything about her until I started researching this project. Augusta Ada King aka Ada Lovelace (she was the countess of Lovelace) was the poet Lord Byron’s only legitimate child. Being the daughter of quite possibly the most (in)famous man in British society and raised by a cold mother, the young Ada was constantly observed for any signs of delinquency, in fact it was the fear that her daughter would turn to the bohemian ways of her ex-husband that led her mother to push the young Ada towards pursuing mathematics and logic.

Ada studied under a number of tutors, most notably Mary Somerville a mathematician and astronomer from Scotland. At the age of 17 Ada was introduced by Mary Somerville to the eminent Inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage (often referred to as the father of computing). Ada being of keen mind became intrigued by Babbage’s difference engine and even more over with his plans for a more powerful ‘Analytical Engine’. It was in fact her translation of an article in Italian by Federico Menabrea, relating to the proposed Analytical Engine, (a translation to which she added so many of her own thoughts that it was three times the length of the original), which first bought to light, many of her great ideas (including the idea of looping code), ideas that have led her to be considered the first computer programmer. Later she would use her vast intellect and work in the field to attempt to come up with a system for gambling, with little or no success.