It’s a complex story, and to understand it, we’ll have to start by going over quite a lot of facts and narrative.īut then she got sick with measles (and perhaps encephalitis) - and ended up bedridden and in poor health for 3 years. In some ways it’s an ennobling and inspiring story in some ways it’s frustrating and tragic. And there’s a surprising amount of misinformation and misinterpretation out there.īut after quite a bit of research - including going to see many original documents - I feel like I’ve finally gotten to know Ada Lovelace, and gotten a grasp on her story. The whole story is entwined with the customs of 19th-century British high society. The technology is difficult to understand. The personalities in the story are hard to read. And in preparation for her bicentennial, I decided to try to solve what for me has always been the “mystery of Ada.” It was much harder than I expected. I’ve been curious for a long time what the real story is. To some she is a great hero in the history of computing to others an overestimated minor figure. Portrait of Ada Lovelace at age 20 (from The New York Public Library) A da Lovelace was born 200 years ago this month.
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