Ada Augusta Lovelace is the very first programmer on Earth! The incredible story of the world's first programmer Ada Lovelace.

December 10 is named Programmer's Day in honor of the first representative of this not too ancient profession, who was also born on this day.

Augusta Ada Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815. She was only daughter the great English poet George Gordon Byron (1788 - 1824) and Annabella Byron, née Milbank (1792 - 1860). “She is an extraordinary woman, a poet, a mathematician, a philosopher,” Byron wrote about his future wife in 1813. Her parents separated when the girl was two months old, and she never saw her father again.

Ada inherited her mother’s love of mathematics and many of her father’s traits, including a similar emotional character.
Byron dedicated several touching lines to his daughter in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, but at the same time, in a letter to his cousin, he was worried in advance: “I hope that God will reward her with anything, but not a poetic gift...
Ada had an excellent upbringing. The study of mathematics occupied an important place in him, to a large extent under the influence of his mother. Her teacher was the famous English mathematician and logician Augustus de Morgan. In 1834, her first acquaintance with the outstanding mathematician and inventor Charles Babage, creator of the first digital computer With program controlled, which he called “analytical”. Babbage, who knew Lady Byron, encouraged young Ada's passion for mathematics. Babbage constantly monitored Ada's scientific pursuits; he selected and sent her articles and books, primarily on mathematical issues. Ada's studies were encouraged by her family's friends - Augustus de Morgan and his wife, the Sommervilles and others. Ada attends D. Lardner's public lectures on the machine. Together with Sommerville and others, she visits Babbage for the first time and inspects his workshop. After her first visit, Ada began to visit Babbage often, sometimes accompanied by Mrs. de Morgan. In her memoirs, de Morgan described one of her first visits as follows: “While some of the guests looked in amazement at this amazing device with such a feeling, as they say, savages see a mirror for the first time or hear a shot from a gun, Miss Byron, still very young, was able to understand operation of the machine and appreciated the great merit of the invention.”

Family life Augusta Ada's life was a happy one. In 1835, Ada Byron, aged nineteen, married 29-year-old Lord King, who later became Earl of Lovelace. The husband had nothing against his wife’s scientific pursuits and even encouraged her in them. True, valuing her highly mental capacity, he lamented: “What a great general you could have become!” The Lovelaces led a social lifestyle, regularly hosting receptions and evenings at their London home and country estate of Oakhut Park. Ada's marriage did not alienate her from Babbage; their relationship became even more cordial. At the beginning of their acquaintance, Babbage was attracted by the girl’s mathematical abilities. Subsequently, Babbage found in her a person who supported all his bold endeavors. Ada was almost the same age as him early deceased daughter. All this led to a warm and sincere attitude towards Ada for many years.

Ada was vertically challenged, and Babbage, when mentioning her, often called her a fairy. The editor of Examiner magazine once described her as follows: “She was amazing, and her genius (and she had genius) was not poetic, but mathematical and metaphysical, her mind was in constant motion, which was combined with great exactingness. Along with such masculine qualities as firmness and determination, Lady Lovelace was characterized by delicacy and refinement of the most refined nature. Her manners, tastes, education... were feminine in in a good way of this word, and the superficial observer could never have guessed the power and knowledge that lay hidden beneath the feminine attractiveness. As much as she disliked frivolity and banality, she loved to enjoy real intellectual society.

The Lovelace couple had a son in 1836, a daughter in 1838 and a son in 1839. Naturally, this took Ada away from mathematics for a while. But soon after the birth of her third child, she turns to Babbage with a request to find her a mathematics teacher. At the same time, she writes that she has the strength to go as far in achieving her goals as she wishes. Babbage, in a letter dated November 29, 1839, responds to Lovelace: “I think that your mathematical abilities are so obvious that they do not need testing. I made inquiries, but at present I have not been able to find a person whom I could recommend to you as a teacher. I will continue searching"

From the beginning of 1841, Lovelace began seriously studying Babbage's machines. In one of her letters to Babbage, Ada writes: “You must tell me basic information regarding your machine. I have good reason for wanting this." In a letter dated January 12, 1841, she outlines her plans: “...For some time in the future (maybe within 3 or 4, or perhaps even many years) my head may serve you for your purposes and plans... Exactly I want to have a serious conversation with you on this issue." This offer was gratefully accepted by Babbage. Since that time, their cooperation has not been interrupted and has produced brilliant results.

In October 1842, Menabrea's article was published, and Ada began translating it. They developed the plan and structure of the notes together. Having finished each note, Ada sent it to Babbage, who edited it, made various comments and sent it on. The work was transferred to the printing house on July 6, 1843.
The central point of Lovelace's work was the compilation of a program (numbers) for calculating Bernoulli numbers. Lovelace's comments included three of the world's first computer programs that she compiled for Babbage's machine. The simplest of them and the most detailed is the program for solving a system of two linear algebraic equations with two unknowns. When analyzing this program, the concept of work cells (work variables) was first introduced and the idea of ​​sequentially changing their content was used. From this idea there is one step left to the assignment operator - one of the fundamental operations of all programming languages, including machine ones. A second program was written to calculate the values trigonometric function with repeated repetition of a given sequence of computational operations; For this procedure, Lovelace introduced the concept of a loop, one of the fundamental constructs of structured programming. The third program, designed to calculate Bernoulli numbers, already used recurrent nested loops. In her comments, Lovelace also expressed an excellent guess that computational operations could be performed not only with numbers, but also with other objects, without which computers would remain just powerful, high-speed calculators.

Since 1844, Ada Lovelace became more and more interested in racing, especially since she herself rode well and loved horses. Both Babbage and William Lovelace played at the races, and Babbage, who was interested in applied issues of probability theory, considered the game at the races from these positions and looked for the optimal gaming system. However, both Babbage and Ada's husband relatively soon abandoned participation in the game. But Ada, passionate and stubborn, continued to play. Moreover, Lady Ada became close to a certain John Cross, who blackmailed her. She spent almost all her funds and by 1848 had made big debts. Then her mother had to pay off these debts, and at the same time buy the incriminating letters from John Cross. In the early 50s, the first signs of the disease that claimed the life of Ada Lovelace appeared. In November 1850 he wrote to Babbage: “My health... is so bad that I want to accept your offer and appear to your medical friends upon arrival in London.” Despite the measures taken, the disease progressed and was accompanied by severe suffering. On November 27, 1852, Ada Lovelace died before the age of 37. Along with her outstanding intellect, her father also passed on this terrible heredity to her - early death- the poet died at the same age... She was buried next to her father in the Byron family crypt.

Success came to her with great stress and not without damage to her health. We managed to do little on our own short life Augusta Ada Lovelace. But the little that came from her pen inscribed her name in the history of computational mathematics and computer technology as the first programmer. The ADA language, developed in 1980, is one of the universal programming languages, named in memory of Ada Lovelace. This language was widely used in the United States, and the US Department of Defense even approved the name “Ada” as the name of a unified programming language for the American military, and later for the entire NATO.
There are also two names in America named after Ada Lovelace. small towns- in the states of Alabama and Oklahoma. There is also a college named after her in Oklahoma.

In 1833, the English scientist, professor at Cambridge University Charles Babbage (1792-1871) developed a project for an analytical engine - a giant adding machine with program control, arithmetic and storage devices. Babbage's Analytical Engine was not only a predecessor, but also in many respects a prototype of modern electronic computers with program control.

Ch. Babbage's collaborator and assistant in many of his scientific researches was Lady Lovelace (née Byron). Lady Lovelace's only scientific work related to "programming questions for Babbage's Analytical Engine" and anticipated the foundations of modern programming for digital computers with program control.

Augusta Ada Lovelace, daughter of the great English poet George Byron, was born on December 10, 1815. J. Byron’s family life was unsuccessful - after a year life together the couple separated forever. His wife Annabella Milbanke (1792-1860) was a gifted person. She loved mathematics and studied it from childhood until her marriage.

The Byrons' daughter is Ada, following the example of her mother. youth I was interested in mathematics. Young Ada's passion was supported by Lady Byron's friends - the famous English mathematician and logician Augustus de Morgan (1806-1871), his wife, amateur mathematician Mary Sommerville, and Charles Babbage.

In July 1835, Ada married William, eighteenth Lord King, who later became the first Earl of Lovelace. Ada had a son in May 1836, a daughter in February 1838, and a second son at the end of 1839. But neither family worries nor Ada’s poor health shook her determination to study mathematics.

February 22, 1841 Ada informs Babbage that he is working on issues related to his computers. At this time, Babbage worked hard to improve the structure of the Analytical Engine. But another issue was also important for the scientist at that time - getting the government to finance the construction of an analytical engine. This required popularization of the idea of ​​automatic calculations, a clear and understandable presentation of the principles of operation of the analytical engine for the general public. A competent assistant would not have hurt him at all.

In October 1842, the Italian mathematician L.F. Menabrea published the article “Sketch of the Analytical Engine Invented by Charles Babbage.” Soon after the essay appeared, Ada Lovelace translated it. Babbage suggested that she add some notes to Menabrea's sketch.

Ada Lovelace liked this idea and immediately began to implement it. Ada worked very hard, with a lot of tension. She handed the pages of notes to Babbage, who looked through them and either sent them back with comments or passed them on to the printer.

On July 19, 1843, Ada reported to Babbage that she herself had “compiled a list of operations for calculating every coefficient for every variable,” i.e. wrote a program to calculate Bernoulli numbers. In August of the same year, a translation of Menabrea's article and "Notes" were published. In certain circles, Ada Lovelace gained worldwide fame.

In the early 50s. Ada shows the first signs of cancer, and on November 27, 1852, Ada died a few days shy of 37 years old, the same age as Lord Byron. According to her will, she was buried (December 3) next to her father's grave in the Byron family crypt in Nottinghamshire.

Augusta Ada Lovelace accomplished little in her short life. But the little that came from her pen inscribed her name in the history of computational mathematics and computer technology as the first programmer. Babbage's Analytical Engine was never built, and the programs written by Ada Lovelace were never debugged or worked, but a number of statements made by Lovelace in 1843 about general provisions programming (the principle of saving work cells, the connection of recurrent formulas with cyclic calculation processes, etc.) have retained their fundamental importance for modern programming.

In 1975, the US Department of Defense decided to begin developing a universal programming language. When the question arose about what to call new project, the developers presented to the head of the department historical excursion, having familiarized himself with which he without hesitation approved the name “Hell”.

The title was a tribute to a woman whose contribution to world science was only about 50 pages long. But these fifty pages turned out to be a brilliant prediction of the future.

December 10, 1815 in London, in the family poet George Byron and his wife Anna Isabella a girl was born, whom her parents named Augusta Ada.

Ada Lovelace. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Augusta Ada was the only legitimate daughter of the great poet, but Byron saw her only once, when the girl was a month old. The daughter was born when the parents' relationship had already come to an end. On April 21, 1816, Byron signed an official divorce and left England forever.

That is why neither her mother nor her maternal grandparents ever called the girl Augusta - after all, this name was given to her by her father in honor of his sister. Moreover, the relatives removed all of Byron’s books from the family library so that nothing would remind Augusta Ada of her father.

Mathematics as a family hobby

After the birth of her daughter, Anna Isabella handed her over to her parents and went on a long health cruise.

There is conflicting information about the relationship between Ada and her mother, but it is absolutely certain that Ada passed on Anna Isabella’s passion for mathematics. At one time, the lover Byron called his wife “the queen of parallelograms.”

If in other countries of the world in the first half of the 19th century women would have reacted to such a hobby with surprise, turning into condemnation, then in England, the leader of world progress of that era, they treated it quite calmly.

The mother contributed in every possible way to her daughter’s interest by inviting her to study Scottish mathematician Augustus de Morgan, who used to be the teacher of Anna Isabella herself. Ada's other teachers were Mary Somervilleь, translated into English language"Treatise on Celestial Mechanics" French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace.

At the age of 17, Ada went out into the world for the first time and was introduced to the king and queen. But she was much more impressed by her meeting with Charles Babbage, Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.

Charles Babbage, Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Mr Babbage and his car

By that time, Babbage had already been developing a calculating machine for ten years that could carry out calculations with an accuracy of up to the twentieth digit. This car, known today as Babbage's Great Difference Engine, contained the principles on which modern computers. That is why some call Babbage's creation the world's first computer.

A replica of the difference engine at the London Science Museum. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Joe D

The task that Babbage took on was extremely difficult for its time. After ten years of work, the authorities gave up on the project and stopped funding it. But Babbage, like a true scientist, continued to work. In his new acquaintance, he found not only a friend, but also a devoted like-minded person.

When Ada Byron turned 20, she was married to a 29-year-old William King, 8th Baron King, who soon succeeded to the title of Lord Lovelace.

This marriage turned out to be happy: the couple had three children, and the husband sincerely loved Ada. He was sympathetic to his wife’s passion for mathematics and did not interfere with her scientific pursuits. Moreover, her husband’s impressive fortune allowed Ada not to bother herself with mercantile issues.

Contemporaries wrote that Ada Lovelace amazingly combined femininity, grace, charm and a sharp mind. She knew how to behave like a lady of high society, but was much more willing to communicate with scientists, philosophers and writers.

"Something about Bernoulli numbers"

In 1842, Charles Babbage was invited to the University of Turin to give a seminar on his Analytical Engine. Luigi Menabrea, young Italian engineer and future Prime Minister of Italy, recorded the lecture in French, and it was subsequently published in the Public Library of Geneva in October 1842.

Babbage asked Ada Lovelace to translate Menabrea's notes, adding commentary to the text.

Ada took the matter extremely seriously. The work took her more than a year. As a result, her comments took up 52 pages, proving to be more extensive than Menabrea's notes.

In 1843, a translation with commentary by Ada Lovelace, which was in fact her own scientific work, was published. The work was published under the acronym AAL, since it was considered indecent for a woman of high society to publish works under her own name.

On the eve of publication, Ada wrote to Babbage: “I want to insert in one of my notes something about Bernoulli numbers, as an example of how an implicit function can be calculated by a machine without first deciding by the head and hands of a person.”

52 pages of genius

“Something” turned out to be a brilliant prediction of the future. Ada Lovelace coined the terms “cycle” and “work cell”, “distributing card”, and described the basic principles of algorithmization. Moreover, her algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers on the Analytical Engine is today considered the first computer program. That is why Ada Lovelace is considered the world’s first programmer and is unofficially called the “mother of all programmers.”

“The essence and purpose of the machine will change depending on what information we put into it. The machine will be able to write music, draw pictures, and show science ways we have never dreamed of,” wrote Ada Lovelace. Think about it, these words were written in the first half of the 19th century!

However, the genius of Ada Lovelace was to be appreciated by posterity, and her work did not arouse great enthusiasm among her contemporaries due to the fact that few could appreciate its significance. Charles Babbage, one of the few who could understand the full meaning of what Ada wrote, began to call her “my dear interpreter.” But after a century and a half, it turns out that the “interpreter”, with the power of his scientific thought, looked much further into the future than the creator of the “Large Difference Engine”.

Ada Lovelace's life was short. In the early 1850s she became seriously ill and died on November 27, 1852 at the age of 36.

Some scientists work for decades and leave behind hundreds of works that are forgotten before the grave mound settles over the final resting place of their creators. Ada Lovelace, the great daughter of the great Byron, only needed 52 pages to go down in history.

Augusta Ada King(née Byron), Countess Lovelace(English) Augusta Ada King Byron, Countess of Lovelace), known as Ada Lovelace- English scientist, mathematician. She is known mainly for creating a description of a computer, the design of which was developed by Charles Babbage, with whom she worked in tandem for many years.

early years

Born December 10, 1815 in London. Ada was the only legitimate child of the English poet George Gordon Byron and his wife Anna Isabella Byron. Anna Byron in better days In her family life, for her passion for mathematics, she received the nickname “Queen of Parallelograms” from her husband. On April 21, 1816, Ada's father, the poet Byron, signed an official divorce and left England forever. In the first and last time Byron saw his daughter a month after her birth.

The girl received her first name Augusta (Augusta) in honor of Byron's half-sister, with whom he was rumored to have had an affair. After the divorce, her mother and her mother's parents (who, according to some sources, were the initiators of her daughter's divorce) never called her by this name, but called her Ada. Moreover, all of her father’s books were removed from the family library.

Ada Byron composed the first computer program, for which her descendants called her “the first programmer.” Ada Byron, like her mother, successfully and enthusiastically studied mathematics from childhood. Ada's teacher was the famous English mathematician and logician Augustus de Morgan. Among the friends of her mother, Annabella Milbank, was the outstanding English scientist and inventor Charles Babbage. Young Ada visits his workshop, where she learns about his work on computers. Charles Babbage sincerely fell in love with this girl; he found in her the main thing that he valued in people - sharpness of mind. Perhaps the fact that Ada was almost the same age as his daughter who died early also played a role. Babbage follows Ada's scientific pursuits, sends her articles and books of interest, and introduces her to his work.

Augusta Ada's family life was happy. In July 1835 she married William, eighteenth Lord King, who later became the first Earl of Lovelace. Sir William, who was 29 years old at the time, was a calm, even-tempered and affable man. He approved of his wife's scientific pursuits and helped her as best he could. They had three children: Byron, born May 12, 1836, Anabella (Lady Anne Blue), born September 22, 1837, and Ralph Gordon, born July 2, 1839. Her husband and three children did not prevent Ada from enthusiastically surrendering to what she considered her calling. Marriage even made her work easier: she had uninterruptible source financing in the form of the family treasury of the Earls of Lovelace.

The rise of scientific activity

In 1842, Charles Babbage was invited to the University of Turin to give a seminar on his Analytical Engine. Military engineer L. F. Menabrea (later a general in Garibaldi's army and then Prime Minister of Italy) wrote the article "Sketch of the Analytical Engine Invented by Charles Babbage." Ada was interested in this material, and she translated it into English. After which Babbage suggested that she add some notes to the translation. The translation of Menabrea's article takes 20 pages, while Ada Lovelace's notes are two and a half times the size of the article and take up almost 50 pages. This fact demonstrates that A. A. Lovelace did not limit herself to the role of a simple commentator. Moreover, Menabrea's article deals more with the technical side of the matter, while Lovelace's notes deal with the mathematical side.

After receiving the first proofs, she writes to Babbage: “I want to insert in one of my notes something about Bernoulli numbers as an example of how an implicit function can be calculated by a machine without first being solved by the human head and hands. Send I need the data and formulas." At her request, Babbage sent all the necessary information and, wanting to save Ada from difficulties, he himself compiled an algorithm for finding these numbers. But he made it very gross mistake in drawing up an algorithm, and Ada immediately discovered this. She independently wrote a program to calculate Bernoulli numbers.

This program is of exceptional interest, since the size, complexity and mathematical formulation of this problem cannot be compared with elementary examples. This example allowed Lovelace to fully demonstrate the technique of programming on the Analytical Engine and the advantages that the latter provides with a suitable method of calculation.

Anticipating the “stages” of computer programming, Ada Lovelace, just like modern mathematicians, begins by posing a problem, then chooses a calculation method convenient for programming, and only then proceeds to compiling a program.

The program caused Babbage a real delight; he did not spare words of praise for its author, and they were absolutely deserved. Support and kind words strengthened Ada's confidence and gave her strength to work. Success was given to her with great stress and undermined her health, which she repeatedly complains about in letters to Babbage. Lovelace wanted this and subsequent works that she dreamed of to be somehow associated with her name. So Ada decides to put her initials under each note.

Lovelace's "Notes" laid the foundations for modern programming, based on the ideas and principles that were expressed by her. One of the most important concepts in programming is the concept of a loop. Lovelace fully understood the importance of the cycle - the use of cyclic computational methods is one of the simplest and the most effective methods, facilitating the use of computers. Therefore, she pays quite a lot of attention to cycles in her work. Lovelace is the author of the definition of a cycle: “A cycle of operations is to be understood as any group of operations that is repeated more than once.” Organizing loops in a program significantly reduces its size. Without such a reduction practical use An analytical engine would be impossible, because it worked with punched cards, and a huge number of them would be required for each problem being solved.

Surprisingly, even at that time Ada Lovelace was fully aware of the colossal “breadth of the spectrum” of the capabilities of a universal computer. At the same time, she very clearly understood the limits of these possibilities: “It is advisable to warn against exaggerating the capabilities of the Analytical Engine, because it does not pretend to create something truly new. The machine can do everything that we can prescribe for it. It can "follow analysis, but it is not able to predict any analytical relationships or truths. The functions of the machine are precisely to help us obtain what we are already familiar with." In 1843, when these points were made, Ada, of course, could not foresee how programming would develop and what forms it would take 120 years later.

Later years

In its first and, unfortunately, only scientific work Ada Lovelace examined a large number of issues that are also relevant for modern programming.

After a while, Babbage, together with the Lovelace spouses, began to develop and practically test a system of win-win bets on races. Scientists hoped to obtain this way financial resources to continue work on computers.

Unfortunately, the “System” did not live up to expectations and, having lost a rather serious amount, Babbage and Count Lovelace refused to participate in improving the “system.” Everyone refused, except for Lady Ada, a gambling and stubborn woman who continued to play. She found herself deeply drawn into this risky game, spending all her personal funds on it, and her husband did not even suspect it. To make matters worse, Lady Ada was in the hands of a group of scammers who were blackmailing her.

My brain is more than just a mortal substance, I hope time will tell...
...It is good for the Universe that my aspirations and ambitions are forever connected with the spiritual world
and that I'm not going to deal with sabers, poison and intrigue instead of X, Y and Z
A.A. Lovelace

How and why did practical programming in its modern sense appear? Like all other great inventions, it came from laziness. In 1946, the first electronic computer, ENIAC, was created. To change its calculation algorithm, you had to run around the room for a couple of days, connecting and disconnecting 6,000 switches. When scientists got tired of running, they started developing computers that understood programs in machine codes, and then they came up with programming languages.

Meanwhile theoretical basis modern programming was laid down 100 years before the creation of the first computer. And the woman did it.

Ada Augusta Lovelace was born on December 10, 1815. She was the only legitimate daughter of the great English poet George Gordon Byron. Her mother Annabella Byron was an extraordinary woman, a fan of mathematics and philosophy, with a passion for exact sciences nicknamed in the world “the queen of parallelograms”. Is it any wonder that two bright personalities with such different inclinations they could not get along together - soon after the birth of their daughter, the couple separated. Byron dedicated these lines to his daughter in the poem “ Childe Harold”:

"Daughter, little chick, dear Ada! To the mother
Do you look like your only relative?
On the day of that separation I could shine
There is blue hope in your eyes..."

Ada received an excellent upbringing and education - she played several musical instruments, knew languages, history, philosophy. But thanks to her mother’s efforts, the most important place in her education was the study of mathematics. Her teacher was the famous English mathematician and logician Augustus de Morgan. In 1834 she was introduced to the outstanding mathematician Charles Babbage, the inventor of the first digital computer, which he called “analytical”. Babbage, an acquaintance of his mother, encouraged young Ada to study mathematics, corresponded with her, sent her science articles and books to study.

When Ada Augusta Byron began to appear in society, she created a sensation - both with her elegant, mysterious beauty and her brilliant logical mind. “ Angelic appearance, devilish mind“- her contemporaries said about her. At that time, by the way, in society there was talk of scientific topics were in great fashion, and Ada more than once baffled pundits in scientific disputes.

Contrary to the popular belief that the ideal of any man is “charming, what a fool,” there were more than enough people who wanted to conquer the mysterious beauty. In 1835, Ada Byron married 29-year-old Lord King, who later became Earl of Lovelace. Such an intelligent woman, of course, chose a husband who encouraged and fully supported her scientific pursuits. According to contemporaries, their marriage was happy. The couple led a secular lifestyle, regularly held evenings and receptions on their estate, and they had three children.

The editor of Examiner magazine once described it as follows: “ She was amazing, and her genius was not poetic, but mathematical and metaphysical, her mind was in constant motion, which was combined with great exactingness. Along with such masculine qualities as firmness and determination, Lady Lovelace was characterized by delicacy and refinement of the most refined nature. Her manners, her tastes, her education... were feminine in the good sense of the word, and the superficial observer could never have guessed the power and knowledge that lay hidden beneath her feminine attractiveness.”

In the first 5 years of marriage, Ada had no time for science - she gave birth to two sons and a daughter one after another. However, in 1841, Ada Lovelace returned to her studies with Babbage and began studying his Analytical Engine.

In October 1842, the Italian mathematician L.F. Menabrea published the article "Essay on the Analytical Engine Invented by Charles Babbage." Ada translated this article into English, and Babbage offered to give her his comments on the translation. It was these comments, larger in volume than the original text of the article, that went down in history. In them, Ada not only compiled the world's first description of the operation of a computer, but also wrote three programs for it, for the first time introducing many concepts that no programming language can do without today - working variables, assignments, loops, nested loops. This allows us to now say that it was she who laid the foundations of theoretical programming.

The first of them is a program for solving a system of two linear algebraic equations with two unknowns, the second is for calculating the values ​​of a trigonometric function, the third is for calculating Bernoulli numbers. Ada herself, not only a brilliant scientist, but also a poetic woman, wrote to Babbage about her program: “I want to introduce an example in one of the notes: the calculation of Bernoulli numbers as an example of a machine calculating an undefined function without first solving it using the human head and hands. Am I a devil or an angel? I work like the devil for you, Charles Babbage; I’m sifting through Bernoulli’s numbers for you.”

Unfortunately, Lady Lovelace was in poor health and soon fell ill with cancer, from which she died at the age of 37, in 1852. But Babbage’s analytical engine remained a theory - it was ahead of its time and could not be completed during his lifetime, the technology of that time and the need for huge financial investments did not allow it. For example, at that time they did not know how to quickly process metal with the required degree of accuracy - and the project required thousands of gears alone.

“The essence and purpose of the machine will change depending on what information we put into it. The machine will be able to write music, draw pictures and show science ways that we have never seen anywhere.” . These words of Ada Lovelace turned out to be prophetic. She was able to see the purpose of a computer 100 years before it was created.

The Ada programming language, developed in 1980 by the US Department of Defense, was named after Ada Lovelace.