Ada Lovelace: She Saw the Future of Computers… 100 Years Early

In 1843, a young woman wrote about a machine that did not exist yet.

She said that one day, it might even make music.

Almost nobody understood her.

Was she just dreaming, or could she see the future?

This is the story of Ada Lovelace.

Welcome to brightlivesenglish.com, where we teach real English using real-life stories.

Algorithm. An algorithm is a list of steps that tells a computer exactly what to do.

She wrote an algorithm for the machine.

Analytical. An analytical person looks at a problem carefully, step by step, and thinks with logic.

She had a sharp, analytical mind.

Visionary. A visionary is someone who can imagine the future and has new ideas long before other people.

Today, she is seen as a visionary.

Notes. Notes are short pieces of writing that explain something or add information to a text.

Her notes were three times longer than the article.

Calculation. A calculation is the work of using numbers to find an answer.

The machine could do long calculations without mistakes.

Now, one expression: ahead of her time.

If you are ahead of your time, your ideas are too new for the people around you.

People didn't understand her ideas for a hundred years.

Her ideas were a hundred years ahead of her time.

Ready? Let's begin.

Ada was born in London in 1815.

Her father was Lord Byron, one of the most famous poets in the world.

But he left when she was one month old, and she never saw him again.

Her mother loved mathematics.

She did not want her daughter to become a wild, dreamy poet like her father.

So Ada had teachers for mathematics, science and logic.

She grew up with a sharp, analytical mind.

But Ada also loved to dream.

At twelve, she decided she wanted to fly.

She studied birds, tested paper, silk and feathers, and planned a flying machine powered by steam.

For a girl in 1828, the idea was far ahead of its time.

In 1833, at seventeen, she met the inventor Charles Babbage.

At his home, he showed his guests part of a machine made of shining brass wheels.

The machine could do long calculations without mistakes.

Other visitors just stared.

Ada understood how it worked.

Babbage then planned an even greater machine, the Analytical Engine.

It would follow instructions on punched cards, like the looms that wove patterns into silk.

But there was no money to build it, and it was never built.

Like its inventor, it was ahead of its time.

Ada married and became the Countess of Lovelace.

She had three children.

Then, in 1842, an Italian engineer wrote an article about Babbage's engine.

Ada translated it into English, and she added her own notes.

Her notes were three times longer than the article.

In the last one, she showed step by step how the engine could work out a difficult series of numbers.

She wrote an algorithm for the machine.

Many people call it the first computer program.

But her boldest idea was this.

Numbers can stand for other things, like letters or sounds.

So a machine like this, she wrote, might one day compose music.

Babbage was amazed.

He called her the Enchantress of Number.

Ada died in 1852, at only thirty-six.

For about a hundred years, her notes were almost forgotten.

Then the first electronic computers were built.

In 1953, her notes were published again, and people finally understood them.

Today, she is seen as a visionary.

A programming language is named Ada, and every October, Ada Lovelace Day celebrates women in science.

So, was she just dreaming?

No. Her ideas were a hundred years ahead of her time.

Let's review. She wrote an algorithm for the machine.

She had a sharp, analytical mind.

Today, she is seen as a visionary.

Her notes were three times longer than the article.

The machine could do long calculations without mistakes.

And remember: her ideas were a hundred years ahead of her time.

Ada's story teaches us: imagination and logic are stronger together.

Want more interesting lessons?

Go to brightlivesenglish.com.

Please subscribe and learn with us.