Ada Lovelace: First Computer Programmer

The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. - Ada Byron Lovelace

A mathematical prodigy ,at the age of 8, Ada Lovelace could make model boats, at the age of 13 she made the detailed design of a machine that could fly. At the time when women were poets and musicians, Ada was studying mathematics and science. She was home-schooled by William Frend who was a social reformer, later by William King who was Ada’s Husband, and also by Mary Sommerville and Augustus De Morgan both of whom were celebrated mathematicians.

At the age of 17,Ada was given an opportunity to see the small scale version of the difference engine , the first mechanical computer, study its documents and understand its operations. It was a changing point in her life.

Later, she worked with Charles Babbage to develop a computer program called “The Plan” for the analytical engine. An Italian Engineer, Luigi Federico Menabrea had produced an article titled as “Sketch of Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine” for a Swiss journal. Ada translated it into English along with some additional notes on her own understanding and calculations for working of the engine.

Some of her major contributions were:

1. The Bernoulli number algorithm

    In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers B(n) are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in number theory. For every even n other than 0, B(n) is negative if n is divisible by 4 and positive otherwise. For every odd n other than 1, B(n) = 0.
   

2. A method through which the engine can repeat a series of instructions.

3. Codes in the engine that can lead it to work on not just numbers but also convert other disciplines like alphabets, music etc. into numerical data.

Charles Babbage was deeply impressed by her work and her contributions towards analytical engine made her the first programmer. Alan Turing also read about Ada’s notes in his early scientist years to develop the Universal Turing Machine later.

She died early at the age of 32 because of cancer. Her important contributions were republished nearly a hundred years later. In 1979, a software language developed by the U.S. Department of Defense was named Ada to honor the countess’ relentless services to both the disciplines of programming as well as mathematics.