WEBVTT - Who Was Ada Lovelace, the Enchantress of Numbers?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Bogabam Here. If you're surprised that the first computer

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<v Speaker 1>programmer in the world was a woman, just wait. Her

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<v Speaker 1>story gets even more interesting. Ada Lovelace was also the

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<v Speaker 1>daughter a famous poet, Lord Byron, and accomplished her work

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<v Speaker 1>during a time when women were rarely allowed to study

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<v Speaker 1>mathematics and science. Lovelace was born Augusta Ada Byron in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen fifteen, the daughter of Lord Byron and the wealthy

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<v Speaker 1>Isabella Millbank. The two had a stormy marriage, and her

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<v Speaker 1>father left the family almost immediately after her birth, never

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<v Speaker 1>to see her again. Millbank was furious with her ex

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<v Speaker 1>and insisted her daughter's steer clear of poetry, which she

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<v Speaker 1>blamed for Byron's wanton and unstable behavior. Instead, Lovelace was

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<v Speaker 1>highly encouraged to study science and mathematics, the latter being

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<v Speaker 1>Millbank's own area of expertise. This was usual for wealthy

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<v Speaker 1>young ladies at the time, who typically only pursued artistic

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<v Speaker 1>subjects such as music and painting. Unfortunately for Lovelace, she

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<v Speaker 1>had an aptitude for math. When she was in her

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<v Speaker 1>late teens, she met Charles Babbage, an accomplished mathematician and inventor. Babbage,

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<v Speaker 1>known today is the father of the computer, had invented

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<v Speaker 1>the difference engine, a machine that performed simple mathematical calculations.

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<v Speaker 1>Now he was working on an analytical engine that would

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<v Speaker 1>be able to perform more complex computations. He showed Lovelace

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<v Speaker 1>a small working section during their initial meeting, and she

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<v Speaker 1>was fascinated. Soon Lovelace became Babbage's protege. Babbage would eventually

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<v Speaker 1>give her the nickname the Enchantress of Numbers. But in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen thirty five, shortly after the two began working together,

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<v Speaker 1>Lovelace met and married a baron named William King, and

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<v Speaker 1>the couple had three children in quick succession, causing Lovelace

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<v Speaker 1>to temporarily halt her studies, and during this time her

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<v Speaker 1>husband became the Earl of Lovelace and she the Countess,

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<v Speaker 1>hence her surname. Not too long after their third child

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<v Speaker 1>was born, Lovelace returned to work with Babbage. One of

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<v Speaker 1>the first things she did was translate an article on

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<v Speaker 1>his analytical engine from French into English. The translation was

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<v Speaker 1>published in an English science journal in eighteen forty three,

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<v Speaker 1>but the work also included Lovelace's own extensive thoughts and

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<v Speaker 1>ideas on the machine, a material that was three times

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<v Speaker 1>longer than the original article. Because her notes discussed how

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<v Speaker 1>the machine could be programmed to calculate Bernoulli numbers, considered

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<v Speaker 1>by some to be the first algorithm carried out by machine, a,

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<v Speaker 1>Lovelace is viewed as the world's first programmer. More impressively,

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<v Speaker 1>her notes contained visionary references to the concept that similar

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<v Speaker 1>machines might also be used to create music, text, pictures,

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<v Speaker 1>and sounds, essentially today's modern computer, while Babbage thought they

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<v Speaker 1>could only perform numerical calculations. Sadly, Lovelace out of cancer

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<v Speaker 1>at the age of thirty six. Charles Babbage was the

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<v Speaker 1>executor of Lovelace's will. She requested to be interred next

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<v Speaker 1>to her father, Lord Byron, who also died at age

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<v Speaker 1>thirty six, even though he hadn't seen her since she

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<v Speaker 1>was an infant. Her computing ideas were so advanced that

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<v Speaker 1>they weren't recognized until the nineteen forties. Nearly a century later,

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<v Speaker 1>in nineteen seventy nine, the U. S. Department of Defense

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<v Speaker 1>named its new computer programming language ADA in her honor.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Melanie rad Z Pie McManus

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this months

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<v Speaker 1>of other math magical topics, visit how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is a production of iHeart Radio. Or more

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