Famous Figures - Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace

was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and to have published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer.

In 1833 she met Charles Babbage, an inventor and mechanical engineer and they became good friends.

Lovelace was extremely interested in Babbage's plans for a complicated device called the Analytical Engine. It was never built, but the design had all the essential elements of a modern computer.

Lovelace studied the plans…