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Smart Reads: James Essinger’s ‘Ada’s Algorithm’
Ada Lovelace is said to be the world’s first computer programmer; even though she never laid a hand on a mouse or keyboard, she helped shape our technological present. We recently got a chance to talk with author James Essinger, whose new book Ada’s Algorithm: How Lord Byron’s Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age, traces the origin of both Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine and Lovelace’s key insights into the machine: (Note: This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length. To hear even more on Lovelace and the history of technology, the World Science Festival is hosting an event with The Innovators author Walter Isaacson—tickets are sold out, but you can still join the waitlist to be first in line if more become available.) World Science Festival: Why do you think Ada Lovelace understood the possibilities of the Analytical Engine better than Babbage? James Essinger: She understood the machine could do far more than calculations. In her extensive Notes she wrote that the Analytical Engine could do all sorts of things. We mustn’t go too far, though—Babbage invented the machine; she was simply writing notes on it. But her personal notes were very exciting because she had insights into it that Babbage did not have. …
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