First published computer algorithm
An algorithm for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, widely regarded as the first published computer program.
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Ada Lovelace
Mathematics • Computer Science
1815 – 1852
United Kingdom
Published an algorithm for Charles Babbage's proposed Analytical Engine
Overview
About Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace studied mathematics when advanced scientific education was rarely open to women. In her notes on Charles Babbage's proposed Analytical Engine, she described a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers and explored how a programmable machine might manipulate more than numbers. Her writing anticipated important ideas about general-purpose computing, making her a foundational figure in the history of computer science.
Scientific Contribution
Key Discovery
Programmable computation
The early concept that a general-purpose calculating machine could manipulate symbols according to instructions.
Life Timeline
Important Moments
1833
career
Meets Charles Babbage
Lovelace met Charles Babbage and became deeply interested in his plans for calculating machines.
1843
publication
Publishes notes on the Analytical Engine
Her translation of Luigi Menabrea's paper appeared with extensive original notes on Babbage's proposed Analytical Engine.
1843
discovery
Describes a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers
One of Lovelace's notes set out a step-by-step method for the Analytical Engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers.
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