Annabella Milbanke (1792-1860) was the only child of wealthy parents in high society. Her education was first rate, especially mathematics and during her courtship with poet Lord Byron, they had a meeting of the minds. Annabella and Lord Byron soon married, but when Ada Byron (1815–52) was born, Byron was angry about the restrictions of marriage
married Jan 1815
Portrait of Ada, 1835.
Lord Byron immediately informed his wife that he would continue having affairs and soon asked her to leave with the child. Rumours were swirling around Lord Byron’s incestuous relationship with his half-sister, so in 1816, Lady Byron gathered the baby and left for her parents’ country home. Byron left for Greece for good; Ada never met her father.
Annabella gave her daughter a top education because she was worried that an unchecked imagination might encourage Lord Byron’s bad influence. Described by one mistress as mad, bad and dangerous to know, Lord Byron was infamous for his dissolute public life, drug addiction and mental health struggles.
Because of Annabella’s fears and despite suffering ill-health in childhood, Ada was tutored in maths and science. Thanks to Annabella’s suspicion of the arts and her love for maths, Ada flourished with unusual subjects for girls. She was taught by social reformer William Frend, physician William King & Scottish mathematician Mary Somerville of Royal Astronomers Society fame. Ada loved talking to scientists & mathematicians more than to potential suitors.
Babbage’s Difference Engine was seen as the first modern computer. The hand-cranked apparatus of bronze and steel used stacks of cogs, metal hammer-arms and thousands of numbered wheels to solve challenging maths equations. He had finished a small prototype that stood c2.5’ tall. His demonstration piece set London’s intellectual and scientific community alight, delighting Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens & scientist Michael Faraday who all socialised with Ada. It was near miraculous, even to the greatest intellects.
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Charles Babbage
The Difference Engine was revelatory to 17-year-old Ada Byron. On seeing it in 1833, she understood how it worked! 41-year-old Babbage had found his intellectual equal and close friend in Ada, and over the next two decades, Ada proved that her vision for such machines went far beyond mere calculation.
Though the final Difference Engine was never fully realised, Babbage believed the complete product had the potential to solve much more complex problems. In fact Babbage was already planning a machine more complicated and more capable, powered by steam, with very large spinning wheels. In 1834, Babbage explained this new invention to Ada and her mother. While helping with a translation of an article about Babbage’s theoretical Analytical Engine, Ada added her own notes that included how the machine could be programmed to calculate rational numbers, which was the ?first algorithm used for computing.
Ada also saw beyond Babbage’s belief that his machines could only calculate numbers. She thought any sounds, text and pictures could be turned into a digital form and manipulated by machine. The Analytical Engine would be able to do more than simple maths; instead, it would be able to store its outputs and then employ them in other equations. In essence this machine would calculate AND compute, in an age where people worked collaboratively with machines.
Ada was introduced at court, becoming a popular belle of the season ?because of her brilliant mind. Getting married was important. She married William 8th Baron King in 1835 and became Lady King. The couple had 3 children, Byron, Anne Isabella & Ralph, and William was made Earl of Lovelace in 1838. Thankfully her husband appeared to have supported Ada’s intellect and thirst for knowledge.
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Horsley Towers mansion in Surrey, built 1820.
Earl Lovelace acquired it in 1840, adding a great hall and towers.
Fascinated with the invention and its potential, Ada Lovelace stayed in close communication with Babbage as he developed the machine’s schematics. In 1842 Italian mathematician Luigi Federico Menabrea published a paper on Babbage’s machine, which Lovelace translated into English to attract support for the invention.
In her Translator’s Note, Lovelace added her own explanation of how the Analytical Engine would work. The presence or absence of a punch on the card automatically told the loom which threads to raise, creating complex designs in a short time. The Analytical Engine would run on punch cards, using a binary code. The Analytical Engine wove algebraic patterns, like the Jacquard loom wove flowers, an invention that had already transformed the textile industry
.In Note G, Ada wrote a detailed description of how punch cards could be used in the Analytical Engine to output a long sequence of rational numbers that recur throughout maths. Her note converted a mathematical calculation into a series of instructions that could be executed by the Analytical Engine. Despite the 1801 Jacquard Loom, Lovelace was credited with writing the first computer programme!
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The Difference Engine was revelatory to 17-year-old Ada Byron. On seeing it in 1833, she understood how it worked! 41-year-old Babbage had found his intellectual equal and close friend in Ada, and over the next two decades, Ada proved that her vision for such machines went far beyond mere calculation.
Though the final Difference Engine was never fully realised, Babbage believed the complete product had the potential to solve much more complex problems. In fact Babbage was already planning a machine more complicated and more capable, powered by steam, with very large spinning wheels. In 1834, Babbage explained this new invention to Ada and her mother. While helping with a translation of an article about Babbage’s theoretical Analytical Engine, Ada added her own notes that included how the machine could be programmed to calculate rational numbers, which was the ?first algorithm used for computing.
Ada also saw beyond Babbage’s belief that his machines could only calculate numbers. She thought any sounds, text and pictures could be turned into a digital form and manipulated by machine. The Analytical Engine would be able to do more than simple maths; instead, it would be able to store its outputs and then employ them in other equations. In essence this machine would calculate AND compute, in an age where people worked collaboratively with machines.
Ada was introduced at court, becoming a popular belle of the season ?because of her brilliant mind. Getting married was important. She married William 8th Baron King in 1835 and became Lady King. The couple had 3 children, Byron, Anne Isabella & Ralph, and William was made Earl of Lovelace in 1838. Thankfully her husband appeared to have supported Ada’s intellect and thirst for knowledge.
Earl Lovelace acquired it in 1840, adding a great hall and towers.
Fascinated with the invention and its potential, Ada Lovelace stayed in close communication with Babbage as he developed the machine’s schematics. In 1842 Italian mathematician Luigi Federico Menabrea published a paper on Babbage’s machine, which Lovelace translated into English to attract support for the invention.
In her Translator’s Note, Lovelace added her own explanation of how the Analytical Engine would work. The presence or absence of a punch on the card automatically told the loom which threads to raise, creating complex designs in a short time. The Analytical Engine would run on punch cards, using a binary code. The Analytical Engine wove algebraic patterns, like the Jacquard loom wove flowers, an invention that had already transformed the textile industry
.In Note G, Ada wrote a detailed description of how punch cards could be used in the Analytical Engine to output a long sequence of rational numbers that recur throughout maths. Her note converted a mathematical calculation into a series of instructions that could be executed by the Analytical Engine. Despite the 1801 Jacquard Loom, Lovelace was credited with writing the first computer programme!
The Difference Engine designed by Charles Babbage.
in a C19th hand-coloured woodcut
Lovelace excitedly shared her translation and notes on the Analytical Machine with her mother. But because the machine has never been built while she was alive, Ada never saw it. She died of cancer in 1852, 36 years old. She was buried beside dad in the Byron family vault in St Mary Magdalene Church, Hucknall near Nottingham.
Babbage completed most of the Analytical Engine, before he died in 1871. But it was only when computer science started that Ada was rediscovered and her notes on Babbage’s analytical engine were republished in 1953.
Babbage completed most of the Analytical Engine, before he died in 1871. But it was only when computer science started that Ada was rediscovered and her notes on Babbage’s analytical engine were republished in 1953.