It’s more than 160 years since the death of the computer pioneer Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage’s ‘enchantress of numbers’ and self-proclaimed ‘bride of science’. Not the least of Lovelace’s fascination is the way in which her reputation and the claims for her significance have fluctuated so wildly during that time.
She’s been hailed for her understanding of the potential of Babbage’s unbuilt Analytical Engine and for her far-reaching vision of the role of the technology of the future. This has unfortunately led to her being credited with everything from the invention of the CD to the foundation of Silicon Valley. Alan Turing, no less, called one of his basic principles after her — ‘Lady Lovelace’s Objection’ — deriving from her crucial insight that artificial intelligence cannot originate anything. In the late 20th century, the US Department of Defense named a programming language in her memory, while one of Tom Stoppard’s most engaging creations, Thomasina, in his play Arcadia, an ill-fated, mathematical prodigy, was apparently inspired by her.
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