Internet search giant Google today displayed a Google Doodle that depicts the work of Ada Lovelace. Ada was the Countess of Lovelace between the years 1815 and 1852. She is widely considered to be the first computer programmer due to her work with Charles Babbage.
December 10, 2012, is Lovelace’s 197th death anniversary, whose father was Lord Byron. Byron was absent from her life and she did not know him as he had left the country when she was young. Ada aligned herself with Charles Babbage and was an ardent admirer and collaborator with the genius.
Babbage designed the Analytical Engine as well as the Difference Engine; these are considered to be mechanical computers that the scientist was not able to build at the time, however the Difference Engine has since been built.
Babbage himself was of the opinion that Lovelace’s work was highly original. He also said that she had spotted a mistake in his Bernoulli calculations. Ada was highly intuitive and realized that Babbage’s inventions could go beyond computing. She also theorized that the Analytical Engine could be used to write music
Google has depicted Ada holding a quill along with the lineage of computers that have been based on the concept of the Difference Engine. The final picture on the Doodle involves a laptop that is playing music; this seems to fulfil Ada’s prophecy that Babbage’s work will one day be used to play music.
