Ada Lovelace

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace — known now simply as Ada Lovelace — was the first person to publish, in 1843, what we would now call a computer program. Lovelace’s program described how Bernoulli numbers might be calculated on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer which he designed but never built. Lovelace also realized that the Analytical Engine could do more than just calculate numbers. It was also capable, she reasoned, of creating music and art, given the right data and algorithms. It would be another century before such computers were developed.

Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology engineering and maths which aims to increase the profile of women in STEM and create new role models for studying or working in STEM.

Find out more about Ada Lovelace Day at www.findingada.com and on Twitter @findingada, and read a longer Ada Lovelace biography at www.findingada.com/book/ada-lovelace-victorian-computing-visionary.