Today is Ada Lovelace Day – an international day of blogging to celebrate the achievements of women in technology and science. the information below is taken from a most wonderful site: http://findingada.com/
Here’s a little history: The first Ada Lovelace Day was held on 24th march 2009 and was a huge success. It attracted nearly 2000 signatories to the pledge and 2000 more people who signed up on Facebook. Over 1200 people added their post URL to the Ada Lovelace Day 2009 mash-up. The day itself was covered by BBC News Channel, BBC.co.uk, Radio 5 Live, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Metro, Computer Weekly, and VNUnet, as well as hundreds of blogs worldwide. Ada Lovelace Day is organised by Suw Charman-Anderson, with design and development support from TechnoPhobia and hosting from UKHost4U.
And who is Ada Lovelace?
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace was born on 10th December 1815, the only child of Lord Byron and his wife, Annabella. Born Augusta Ada Byron, but now known simply as Ada Lovelace, she wrote the world’s first computer programmes for the Analytical Engine, a general-purpose machine that Charles Babbage had invented.
Ada had been taught mathematics from a very young age by her mother and met Babbage in 1833. Ten years later she translated Luigi Menabrea’s memoir on Babbage’s Analytical Engine, appending notes that included a method for calculating Bernoulli numbers with the machine – the first computer programme. The calculations were never carried out, as the machine was never built. She also wrote the very first description of a computer and of software.
Understanding that computers could do a lot more than just crunch numbers, Ada suggested that the Analytical Engine “might compose elaborate and scientific pieces of music of any degree of complexity or extent.” She never had the chance to fully explore the possibilities of either Babbage’s inventions or her own understanding of computing. She died, aged only 36, on 27th November 1852, of cancer and bloodletting by her physicians.
Who are the Women in Technology in Your Life?
Put your suggestions in the comment box – I’d love to highlight what they do on this blog. Thanks in advance!
Here are some wonderful Women in Technology I'd like to highlight 1st up — Jane Wells http://jane.wordpress.com/ who is on the Core Team for WordPress –
Cheers to geeky women! Thanks Phyllis for highlighting smart and “geeky” women. I love Mari Smith, Denise Wakeman in the Social Media world!
Yes – Mari is the best. I really like how she is technically smart, but also not afraid to show her silly side. And Denise has this really great ability to talk clearly and makes it sound so easy. Thanks for putting their names here! I also want to add Gina Schreck — of GettingGeeky fame on Facebook.