Lovelace

There are slides devoted to this topic: Lecture 0, pp. 17-18, Lecture 3, pp. 55-61.

Websites

The article “Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace,” provides a concise introduction to Ada Lovelace’s life and accomplishments. This biography is part of the San Diego Supercomputer Center’s online exhibition, “Women in Science.”

Learn more about Lovelace in the short biographical article “Ada Lovelace,” from the History of Computers website. This sketch of her life and work is skeptical of her position as the world’s first computer programmer, referring to her instead as Babbage’s “fairy lady.”

For another biographical narrative of Lovelace, check out the article “Ada: The Enchantress of Numbers.” This overview grants Lovelace more credit in her contributions to computer science, and also includes a timeline.

Read Lovelace’s 1843 translation of L. F. Menabrea’s “Sketch of the Analytical Engine, Invented by Charles Babbage.” The explanatory and corrective notes that Lovelace added to this memoir are longer than the paper itself, and the ingenuity of their content is much of the basis of Lovelace’s lauded position in computing history.

Videos

Watch the video “Information Pioneers: Ada Lovelace,” developed by BCS: The Chartered Institute for IT. This partially animated short film focuses largely on Lovelace’s contributions to Analytical Engine, and their implications on modern computing.

Ada Byron Lovelace: To Dream Tomorrow:
This well-researched film documents the life of Ada Lovelace, from her birth in 1815 to her death, at age 37, in 1852. The documentary focuses especially on Lovelace’s passion for mathematics and mechanics, and on her computational work for Babbage’s Analytical Engine.

Other Media

Lovelace and Babbage never completed their scientific aspirations in real life, but in animator Sydney Padua’s webcomic, 2-D Goggles, the pair finishes the Analytical Engine  – and uses it to fight crime. The webcomic is very well researched, and each page includes an extensive list of footnotes and links. Start with the origin story, then move on to learn about the amazing adventures of Lovelace and Babbage!

Listen to a 45-minute long BBC broadcast, “Lovelace,” which takes the listener on a journey through Lovelace’s life and intellectual pursuits.

Journal Articles

IEEE: “Lady Lovelace and Charles Babbage,” Velma and Harry Huskey. This article covers the correspondence between Lovelace and Babbage, largely centered around the Menabrea translation and notes that Lovelace published.

Books

The Calculating passion of Ada Byron, by Joan Baum