Augusta Ada Byron Countess of Lovelace

Anabella Byron was an English mathematician who was briefly married to Lord Byron. She raised Ada on her own and was a strict mother with a clear vision of her daughter's future. Anabella had constant health issues, always thinking she was on death's door. Ironically, she outlived Ada to the age of 60.

Lord Byron was a famous romantic poet with a bad boy reputation. Lord Byron moved to Greece and separated from Lady Byron weeks after Ada was born. Ada never got to meet her father before he died 8 years after her birth.

Ada was tutored in mathematics and music from a young age and proved to have inherited her parents' intellect. Her mother provided the analytical side, where her father's genes gave her an edge in creativity and curiosity. Ada's creative yet scientific mind was ahead of her time.

Ada spent three years being bedridden by measles from ages 13-16, but she was able to participate in social events again by the time she was 17. Anabella's high class status connected Ada to an elite social life in London. Unfortunately, she was often ridiculed for her peculiar intelligence and passion for learning.

On June 5, 1833, Ada and her mother attended a party hosted by Charles Babbage. The two women were invited by Babbage to come back to see his new invention, the Difference Engine. This was the beginning  of Ada and Babbage's lifelong friendship and partnership in the field of analytical inventors. The more time Babbage spent with Ada, the more potential he saw in her. The 40 year old eventually divulged the struggles he was having with his Difference Engine and the lack of funding he had to make an improved model. The two wrote back and forth throughout her life, constantly thinking of ways to improve their hypothetical analytical machine.

William King was considered to be a high society member in London. He did not have the same whimsical qualities as Ada, but he was a logical man with a good job so the two happily married in 1835. Three years after marriage, he was made an earl of Lovelace for his government work and Ada Byron became Countess of Lovelace.

During the first few years of marriage, Ada Lovelace's energy was focused on her three children. Being a mother, however, did not halt her passion for mathematics.

After giving birth to her third child, Lovelace asked Babbage for a tutor recommendation so she could dive back into her studies. Augustus De Morgan tutored Lovelace in calculus, boosting her self-esteem and solidifying her passion to pursue mathematics.

Lovelace continued to write to Babbage daily since the two lived within a few miles of each other. Their letters ranged in topics but focused mainly on mathematics and Lovelace dreaming of the potentials of what hypothetical computational machines could create.

William was a very supportive husband and encouraged Lovelace to stick with mathematics whenever she had self-doubt. It was obvious that Lovelace was aware of her intellect, writing in the letter “I believe myself to possess a most singular combination of qualities exactly fitted to make me pre-eminently a discoverer of the hidden realities of nature,” (Wolfram Steven, 2019).

Lady Byron disclosed to Lovelace that Lord Byron had an illegitimate child with his half sister. This combined with Lovelace's health issues led to her consistently taking opiates to drown out the pain. Despite the family scandal, chronic pain, and growing opiate addiction, Lovelace powered on to make a name for herself in the intellectual realm. Her work with Babbage continued as he searched for donors to fund his Analyical Engine. Lovelace was integral to his work; she took their ideas and turned them into literature that was understandable and impressive.

In 1843, Lovelace completed her translation and notes on the Analytical Engine and prepared for its publication. William King was the one who encouraged Ada Lovelace to take credit and sign her name to them, as she sometimes underestimated her contributions. Babbage was also encouraging of the young scientist, telling her that she should write her own original work. Lovelace received social backlash from the publication, but none of that mattered to her because of the praise she received from the scientific field.

Unfortunately, life outside of math and intellectual writings provided many distractions for Lovelace. Her children were entering their teen years and required more attention. Lovelace's health was also worsening, and it is now suspected that she had cancer. On top of that, Lovelace developed a slight gambling addiction, losing money throughout the years on horse races.

Babbage and Ada continuously exchanged letters daily despite her ailments.Towards the very end of Lovelace's life, she was in constant pain and understood that death was near. She tied up loose ends in her life and requested that her letters to friends and family be sent to her mother and preserved.

When Ada Lovelace passed, she was mourned greatly but left the world with new views of the metaphysical capabilities of  hypothetical computing machines. She considered herself to be an analyst and metaphysician. Now, she is considered the founder of scientific computing.