Letter from Ada Lovelace to Charles Babbage. From the British Library. Licence: Public Domain
Yesterday was Ada Lovelace Day this year (it falls on the second Tuesday of October each year). Often described as the first computer programmer — before computers were even invented — Ada was a real visionary. Imagine what she might have achieved had Babbage actually built his “computer” and she hadn’t died at the age of 36.
Here are some links to some articles I’ve written about her in the past:
Have Ada Lovelace in your classroom
Getting touchy and feely about Computing
Book Review: The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
That book was written by Sydney Padua, a graphic artist. There’s a video about her work on Lovelace that’s worth watching. She’s written several comic strip adventures of Babbage and Lovelace that are fun to read.
See also the Science Museum’s article on computing before computers. And you can see a photo of the Analytical Engine at the Science Museum’s website.
There is also the Ada Lovelace Day website to look at. It has plenty of links.
The hashtags on Twitter are:
and #ALD21
A short and interesting video from the British Library features the letters between Lovelace and Babbage:
All in all, a veritable cornucopia of resources to use in your computing lessons.
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