Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) paid tribute to the first computer programmer, Ada lovelace. Born on December 10th, 1815, Lovelace is considered to be the first programmer of the world. Her work on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and notes on it, are the world’s first algorithm. One can see the image of a lady with a quill pen and the scroll on which she is writing as a Google Doodle. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) chose to celebrate the Birthday of this Lady Genius and stated the reason in their blogpost:
“Too often, the contributions of women in science and technology are left untold, and allowed to fade from view. While Ada’s story has been rediscovered, many others remain little known. That’s why initiatives such as Ada Lovelace Day are so valuable, as a catalyst for raising the profile of women in science, past and present”.
The alliance of Ada with Charles Babbage started when she translated an article by Italian mathematician and engineer Luigi Federico on Babbage’s designed Analytical view. Lovelace held the view that the capacity of an Analytical engine is far behind just solving mathematics. She even imagined that the engine could create music.
“Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental relations of pitched sounds in the science of harmony and of musical composition were susceptible of such expression and adaptations, the engine might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent”.
Ada was the daughter of Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella. Her father died when she was eight. Her mother wanted her to foray in a different direction from her father, and thus tutored Ada in mathematics. Ada lovelace was called the “enchantress of numbers”. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) celebrated her 197th birthday. Her original name was Augusta Ada Byron and became Ada King on her marriage to William King and later became the countess of Lovelace when her husband became an earl.
She died of cancer at a young age of 36. Her role as the first computer programmer in history pulls a debate (mainly because the computer in question was never built) but her contribution in the history of computers can not be surpassed.
Every year, in the month of October, a day of celebration is held to recognize the women’s achievement in the fields of science and technology.
