Research Catalog

Ada Lovelace : the making of a computer scientist

Title
Ada Lovelace : the making of a computer scientist / Christopher Hollings, Ursula Martin & Adrian Rice.
Author
Hollings, Christopher, 1982-
Publication
Oxford : Bodleian Library, 2018.

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TextPermit needed *R-Pforz BIO (Lovelace, A. K.) (Hollings. 2018)Schwarzman Building - Pforzheimer Collection Room 319

Details

Additional Authors
  • Martin, Ursula, 1953-
  • Rice, Adrian C. (Adrian Clifford), 1970-
Description
xiii, 114 pages : illustrations (some color); 22 cm
Summary
Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), daughter of romantic poet Lord Byron and his highly educated wife, Anne Isabella, is sometimes called the world's first computer programmer and has become an icon for women in technology. But how did a young woman in the nineteenth century, without access to formal school or university education, acquire the knowledge and expertise to become a pioneer of computer science?0Although an unusual pursuit for women at the time, Ada Lovelace studied science and mathematics from a young age. This book uses previously unpublished archival material to explore her precocious childhood, from her ideas for a steam-powered flying horse to penetrating questions about the science of rainbows. A remarkable correspondence course with the eminent mathematician Augustus De Morgan shows her developing into a gifted, perceptive and knowledgeable mathematician. Active in Victorian London's social and scientific elite alongside Mary Somerville, Michael Faraday and Charles Dickens, Ada Lovelace became fascinated by the computing machines devised by Charles Babbage. The table of mathematical formulae sometimes called the ̀first programme' occurs in her paper about his most ambitious invention, his unbuilt Ànalytical Engine'.0Ada Lovelace died at just thirty-six, but her paper still strikes a chord to this day, with clear explanations of the principles of computing, and broader ideas on computer music and artificial intelligence now realised in modern digital computers. Featuring images of the ̀first programme' and Lovelace's correspondence, alongside mathematical models, and contemporary illustrations, this book shows how Ada Lovelace, with astonishing prescience, explored key mathematical questions to understand the principles behind modern computing.
Subjects
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references and index.
Call Number
*R-Pforz BIO (Lovelace, A. K.) (Hollings. 2018)
ISBN
  • 1851244883
  • 9781851244881
OCLC
1007310334
Author
Hollings, Christopher, 1982-
Title
Ada Lovelace : the making of a computer scientist / Christopher Hollings, Ursula Martin & Adrian Rice.
Publisher
Oxford : Bodleian Library, 2018.
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Added Author
Martin, Ursula, 1953-
Rice, Adrian C. (Adrian Clifford), 1970-
Research Call Number
*R-Pforz BIO (Lovelace, A. K.) (Hollings. 2018)
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