Crónica de Ada Lovelace
Sara Catalina Triana Valbuena
Programación de Software ficha 29977802 Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje
Ada Lovelace, the Woman Who Programmed the Future
On December 10, 1815, Augusta Ada Byron was born in London, a mathematician,
scientist, and metaphysical analyst. She was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron
and the mathematician Annabella Milbanke Byron. However, she never met her
father, as her mother separated from him just weeks after Ada was born due to his
infidelities and scandals. A few months later, he left Great Britain and died when Ada
was eight years old.
From a very young age, Ada received a strict education from her mother, who
emphasized mathematics and science, as she did not want her to resemble her
father. Ada was often prone to illness; at one point, she contracted measles, which
left her bedridden for over a year. However, she used this time to study and read
extensively. She became fascinated with the idea of flight and was determined to
create a machine that would allow her to fly. She spent years studying bird anatomy
and sketching designs for her project, which, although she eventually abandoned,
led her to write a book titled Flyology.
In 1833, Ada attended a high-society party organized by one of her tutors, where she
met the mathematician Charles Babbage. He had invented a mechanical calculator
capable of performing certain mathematical calculations up to eight decimal places.
Years later, he designed the Difference Engine, a more advanced calculator capable
of performing complex calculations with a precision of up to twenty decimal places.
Ada was eager to participate in his creation, as she saw immense potential in the
machine and how it could transform people's lives. Although Babbage was
impressed by her intellect, he refused to work with her due to her being a woman.
On July 8, 1835, she married William King-Noel, who later became the Earl of
Lovelace. From then on, she would be known as Ada Lovelace. Their marriage
resulted in three children, and they engaged with many brilliant minds of their time.
In 1842, she undertook what would become her most significant work: she translated
an article by Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea about Babbage's Analytical
Engine. However, she did not merely translate it—she added her own insights and
ideas, expanding the text to three times its original length. Fearing censorship due to
her gender, she signed the work with her initials, A.A.L. This document would not be
published under her real name until a century later, in 1953.
Her writing became highly recognized as it described concepts that were
revolutionary for the time. Among them was the first computer algorithm, in which
she detailed, through a diagram, the sequence of operations needed for the machine
to calculate Bernoulli numbers. She envisioned how codes could be created to allow
the machine to process all types of information and perform trigonometric operations
using variables. She also described key programming concepts such as loops and
subroutines. Additionally, she was inspired by the punched card system used in
textile factory machines, which dictated sewing patterns on fabrics. She proposed
improvements to the Analytical Engine that would enable it to execute different tasks
in parallel and perform logical operations.
This machine had the potential to revolutionize the world, as what Ada envisioned is
what we now know as the computer—a device capable of performing a vast array of
useful tasks for humanity.
Ada Lovelace never saw her vision become reality. She passed away from uterine
cancer at the age of 36 on November 27, 1852. However, she left behind a legacy of
intellectual freedom, overcoming the limitations imposed on women at the time. She
saw what no one else could see—she envisioned a future filled with technological
magic. Today, her legacy lives on in every line of code, every device, and every idea
that brings us closer to the future and inspires us to dream big.
