Inspiring Women: Ada Lovelace
By: Jazlene Ramirez
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Digital Devil will be continuing to feature profiles on incredible women throughout history that have inspired the masses with their incredible journeys. The second woman to be featured is Ada Lovelace.
Ada Lovelace, a gifted mathematician, is who people consider to be the first computer programmer. She worked during a time when mainly men dominated the workforce, especially programming. Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815, in London, United Kingdom and had a love for science and mathematics at an early age. Lovelace was raised by her mother, as her parents divorced when she was just a baby. Still, her mother insisted that Lovelace be taught math and science by the best of tutors.
In 1833, Ada was introduced to Charles Babbage, an inventor commonly known as “the father of the computer” who effectively changed her life moving forward. Soon her work showed that she too would become someone that would be remembered for changing the history of the computer. Babbage introduced Lovelace to a machine he had been working on, a prototype of what would become his difference engine, an automatic mechanical calculator. Lovelace was very impressed with his work and recognized it could be more. From that point, Lovelace and Babbage started working together on something called the “Analytical Engine”. She was the first to realize the machine had general applications other than just calculations.
Other scientists and programmers, including Babbage, didn’t see Lovelace as their peer and really felt she was inferior to the great male minds of the time. Though she was denigrated initially, she would later receive the recognition she deserved after annotating a paper on the analytical engine using more than 200,000 words.
During the month of March, we need to make sure we recognize the great works of women, even if it’s just in the slightest, as they have been overlooked for far too long. Everyone needs to give them the love they deserve.
