Ada Lovelace

1815 - 1852

We’re dedicating this International Women’s Day to Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician and writer who published the world’s first ever algorithm.

Despite being bed-bound by illness for much of her childhood, by the age of 12 Ada had decided she wanted to fly. While aviation proved somewhat impossible in early 19th Century England, Ada instead set about effectively inventing the science of computing through her writing on mathematics.

Lovelace’s theories were as poetic as they were pioneering. Her concept of “poetical science”, in which the “theoretical and the practical (…) are brought into more intimate and effective connection with each other”, is acutely relevant to our ongoing struggle to achieve harmony between humans and technology today. In her own way, we consider Ada the ancestor of our mission at Emergence.

Despite repeated attempts to dispute her achievements, including one historian’s characterisation of her “delusions” and “shallow understanding”, Lovelace is now celebrated as one of the first computer programmers.

Here’s to Ada and to all women who wish to fly against the odds.

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