Topic > Ada Lovelace's Biography

Ada Lovelace was born in London, England, United Kingdom on December 10, 1815. Her name was Augusta Ada Byron, but her surname changed after her marriage. Her father was the brilliant but infamous poet Lord Byron (mad, evil and dangerous to know!) and her mother was Anne Isabella Milbanke. His father was one of the greats of poetry, but his personality was unstable. His mother was very intelligent, had received a good education from private tutors and was particularly enthusiastic about mathematics and science. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Ada's father abandoned his wife and daughter, leaving Britain forever when Ada was one month old. He died in Greece when Ada was eight years old. Ada never met him. Ada's mother, Lady Byron, appears to have had little or no affection for her daughter and had very little contact with her. The young girl was raised by her maternal grandmother and servants. Her grandmother died when Ada was only seven, and Ada herself suffered long periods of ill health both in childhood and later. One thing her mother insisted on was that Ada receive a high-quality education. There were no places for girls in UK universities in those days. However, girls from wealthy and aristocratic families could be educated to a high level by private tutors. And that's how Ada was raised. Her mother wanted Ada to focus especially on math and science. Lady Byron also ensured Ada was taught music and French, as musical ability and the ability to read and converse in French were socially desirable. Her mother was very strict with Ada. In fact, it seems that he was a kind of tyrant, demanding that the young woman work very hard and punishing her with periods of isolation if he thought she had not worked hard enough. Lady Byron's wish was for her daughter to become a serious and highly disciplined person, the opposite of her father. Her life changed forever on June 5, 1833, when the 17-year-old girl met Charles Babbage. This was not something many girls her age could ever do, but as an aristocrat she enjoyed better opportunities than most. version of the calculating machine he was working on called the differential engine. Babbage was fed up with people making mistakes in long calculations and his idea was to build an infallible calculating machine powered by steam or a hand crank. Ada was completely fascinated by the idea, but at that moment there was little she could do to help Babbage in his work. However, she sent a message to Babbage requesting copies of the machine's blueprints, because she was determined to understand how it worked. Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom EssayAda and Lady Byron also arranged a visit to factories where they could see steam-powered machines at work and learn as much as they could about mechanical devices. These were highly unusual activities for an aristocratic woman and her daughter. An important part of Ada's education was seeing the Jacquard loom in operation. The Jacquard loom was a machine that produced woven patterned fabrics. Joseph Marie Jacquard invented it 1801.