Ada Lovelace

1815 – 1852 · died at about 37^[1][2]

Science & Invention

Fun Facts About Ada Lovelace

• Ada Lovelace set out to fly at age 12. She designed wings, studied the anatomy of birds, planned a book called Flyology, and hoped to combine steam with the "art of flying."^[1]
• Lovelace was the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron but had no relationship with him. At her own request, she was buried next to him.^[1]
• Lovelace predicted that Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine "might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music" of any complexity.^[1][3][4]
• Alan Turing named an objection to artificial intelligence after her: "Lady Lovelace's Objection," her statement that the engine had no pretensions to originate anything.^[1][5][6]
• Lovelace's mother had her taught mathematics from an early age partly out of an obsession with rooting out any of the insanity she blamed on Lord Byron.^[1]
• Charles Babbage affectionately called Lovelace "Lady Fairy" and the "Enchantress of Number."^[1][3][4]
• Charles Babbage designed the Analytical Engine, and Ada Lovelace published an algorithm for it in 1843.^[1][2][3][4]
• Ada Lovelace was alive at the same time as Francisco Goya — their lives overlapped for 13 years (1815–1828).^[1][2][7][8]

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She was the first to recognise the machine had applications beyond pure calculation. Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer.^[1]

Contemporaries

Jacob Grimm

37 yr overlap

Michael Faraday

37 yr overlap

Charles Babbage

37 yr overlap

Victor Hugo

37 yr overlap

Hans Christian Andersen

37 yr overlap

Abraham Lincoln

37 yr overlap

Charles Darwin

37 yr overlap

Charles Dickens

37 yr overlap

Giuseppe Verdi

37 yr overlap

Richard Wagner

37 yr overlap

Otto von Bismarck

37 yr overlap

Ralph Waldo Emerson

37 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Ada Lovelace

When was Ada Lovelace born?

Ada Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815, and died on November 27, 1852.

How old was Ada Lovelace at death?

Ada Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815, and died on November 27, 1852, at age 36.

What was Ada Lovelace known for?

Ada Lovelace was known for: Often called the first computer programmer. Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She was the first to recognise the machine had applications beyond pure calculation. Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer.

Who was alive at the same time as Ada Lovelace?

Ada Lovelace's closest contemporary was Jacob Grimm. Their lives overlapped for 37 years.