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Design

Original Creators: Ada Lovelace

We take a look at some iconic artists from numerous disciplines who have left an enduring and indelible mark on today’s creators.

Each week we pay homage to a select "Original Creator"—an iconic artist from days gone by whose work influences and informs today's creators. These are artists who were innovative and revolutionary in their fields. Bold visionaries and radicals, groundbreaking frontiersmen and women who inspired and informed culture as we know it today. This week: Ada Lovelace.

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was a 19th century countess, daughter of poet Lord Byron and Anne Isabella Milbanke, and is considered to be the world’s first computer programmer. Though her mother left her father when Ada was only a month old, she insisted that her daughter learn mathematics to rid her of any insanity that may have rubbed off on her from her eccentric father. Ada was a sickly child, often bedridden, so she was privately schooled in math and science by some of the greatest minds of her time, including William Frend, Mary Somerville, Augustus De Morgan, and William King—who later became Lovelace’s husband.

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In 1833 Mary Somerville introduced Ada to Charles Babbage, whom she worked with on his general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She devised a way to calculate Bernoulli numbers using his machine, and her notes on the engine include what is recognized as the first computer algorithm. Babbage called Ada “The Enchantress of Numbers,” and in 1843 he wrote:

“Forget this world and all its troubles and if possible its multitudinous Charlatans—every thing in short by the Enchantress of Numbers.”

In 1980, the computer language Ada was named after her, and Lovelace’s notable influence has since been captured in the movie Conceiving Ada and in The Difference Engine, a steampunk novel by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. In 2009, the first Ada Lovelace Day was celebrated, focused on highlighting the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This year’s Ada Lovelace Day will be celebrated on October 7th.

Though Babbage’s Analytical Engine was never built and Lovelace died at the young age of 36, her achievements had (and still have) a considerable influence on both early and contemporary female thinkers. Here we look at three women mathematicians who we believe took over where Ada left off.

Emmy Noether (1882-1935)

Portrait by Jennifer Mondfrans.

Emmy Noether was a German mathematician known for her work in abstract algebra and theoretical physics, especially on the theories of rings, fields, and algebras. Her first proven theorem, Noether’s theorem, explains the connection between symmetry and conservation law.

Grace Hopper: 1906-1992)

Grace Hopper was an American computer scientist and Navel officer who made significant headway in the field of computer programming. She was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer and is credited with coining the term “debugging” when referring to fixing computer glitches

Limor Fried aka Lady Ada

Limor Fried is an engineer, former EYEBEAM fellow, and MIT graduate, who founded Adafruit Industries—an electronics hobbyist company. She appeared on the cover of last month’s issue of WIRED and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Influential Women in Technology earlier this year. Her moniker and company name were of course inspired by Ada Lovelace.