Ada's Algorithm

How Lord Byron's Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age

Nonfiction, Computers, General Computing, Reference, History, British, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Ada's Algorithm by James Essinger, Melville House
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: James Essinger ISBN: 9781612194097
Publisher: Melville House Publication: October 14, 2014
Imprint: Melville House Language: English
Author: James Essinger
ISBN: 9781612194097
Publisher: Melville House
Publication: October 14, 2014
Imprint: Melville House
Language: English

“[Ada Lovelace], like Steve Jobs, stands at the intersection of arts and technology."—Walter Isaacson, author of The Innovators

Over 150 years after her death, a widely-used scientific computer program was named “Ada,” after Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate daughter of the eighteenth century’s version of a rock star, Lord Byron. Why?

Because, after computer pioneers such as Alan Turing began to rediscover her, it slowly became apparent that she had been a key but overlooked figure in the invention of the computer.

In Ada Lovelace, James Essinger makes the case that the computer age could have started two centuries ago if Lovelace’s contemporaries had recognized her research and fully grasped its implications.

It’s a remarkable tale, starting with the outrageous behavior of her father, which made Ada instantly famous upon birth. Ada would go on to overcome numerous obstacles to obtain a level of education typically forbidden to women of her day. She would eventually join forces with Charles Babbage, generally credited with inventing the computer, although as Essinger makes clear, Babbage couldn’t have done it without Lovelace. Indeed, Lovelace wrote what is today considered the world’s first computer program—despite opposition that the principles of science were “beyond the strength of a woman’s physical power of application.”

Based on ten years of research and filled with fascinating characters and observations of the period, not to mention numerous illustrations, Essinger tells Ada’s fascinating story in unprecedented detail to absorbing and inspiring effect.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

“[Ada Lovelace], like Steve Jobs, stands at the intersection of arts and technology."—Walter Isaacson, author of The Innovators

Over 150 years after her death, a widely-used scientific computer program was named “Ada,” after Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate daughter of the eighteenth century’s version of a rock star, Lord Byron. Why?

Because, after computer pioneers such as Alan Turing began to rediscover her, it slowly became apparent that she had been a key but overlooked figure in the invention of the computer.

In Ada Lovelace, James Essinger makes the case that the computer age could have started two centuries ago if Lovelace’s contemporaries had recognized her research and fully grasped its implications.

It’s a remarkable tale, starting with the outrageous behavior of her father, which made Ada instantly famous upon birth. Ada would go on to overcome numerous obstacles to obtain a level of education typically forbidden to women of her day. She would eventually join forces with Charles Babbage, generally credited with inventing the computer, although as Essinger makes clear, Babbage couldn’t have done it without Lovelace. Indeed, Lovelace wrote what is today considered the world’s first computer program—despite opposition that the principles of science were “beyond the strength of a woman’s physical power of application.”

Based on ten years of research and filled with fascinating characters and observations of the period, not to mention numerous illustrations, Essinger tells Ada’s fascinating story in unprecedented detail to absorbing and inspiring effect.

More books from Melville House

Cover of the book Becoming Leonardo by James Essinger
Cover of the book Bed by James Essinger
Cover of the book The Right Way to Do Wrong by James Essinger
Cover of the book Viva la Pizza! by James Essinger
Cover of the book Lacking Character by James Essinger
Cover of the book The Train by James Essinger
Cover of the book The Diamond as Big as the Ritz by James Essinger
Cover of the book Death and the Penguin by James Essinger
Cover of the book Glaxo by James Essinger
Cover of the book Brenner and God by James Essinger
Cover of the book The Consequential Frontier by James Essinger
Cover of the book A Very Profitable War by James Essinger
Cover of the book Letters of James Agee to Father Flye by James Essinger
Cover of the book Who's Who When Everyone is Someone Else by James Essinger
Cover of the book Lamberto, Lamberto, Lamberto by James Essinger
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy