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As “science” has become the unofficial “religion” of Western “civilization” in the 21st Century it is only right and fitting that we should create aesthetic images and mythology about the “divinities” of science. And, as our civilization, and perhaps our entire universe, is manipulated by computer programming it is only fitting that we worship the “Goddess of Computers”.
Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace (née Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes on the engine include what is recognised as the first algorithm intended to be carried out by a machine. As a result, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer. Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of the poet George Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella Milbanke (“Annabella”), Lady Wentworth.
As a teenager, her mathematical talents led her to an ongoing working relationship and friendship with fellow British mathematician Charles Babbage, also known as ‘the father of computers’, and in particular, Babbage’s work on the Analytical Engine. Lovelace first met him in June 1833, through their mutual friend, and her private tutor, Mary Somerville. Between 1842 and 1843, Ada translated an article by Italian military engineer Luigi Menabrea on the engine, which she supplemented with an elaborate set of notes, simply called Notes. These notes contain what many consider to be the first computer program—that is, an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine.
