Ada: The Enchantress of Numbers

Signed by the author.

Prophet of the Computer Age

Ada Byron, Lady Lovelace, was one of the first to write programs for, and predict the impact of, Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine in 1843. Beautiful, charming, and temperamental, Ada has often been characterized as “mad and bad” as was her illustrious father, Lord Byron.

The “real Ada” — in whose honor the U.S. Department of Defense named a computer language — is even more fascinating than fiction. As this biography reveals, Ada was a 19th century woman with one foot planted firmly in the 20th century.