The Enchantress of Numbers

This article was originally posted on March 24, 2010.

Whether they are colleagues, clients, or associates from my business, I am blessed to work with many women in the field of technology.

Today, on Ada Lovelace Day, let us take a moment to remember the woman who often thought of as the first computer programmer, having written programs for computers (Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine) before they even existed. She is credited with being the first person with the vision to see computers (even before they were know as such) to perform functions beyond mathematical calculations.

The lingua franca of the US Department of Defense, the computer programming language Ada, is named after her, and Britain awards a medal and holds a competition for women in computer science in her name, but Charles Babbage summed up his feelings for her most beautifully:

Forget this world and all its troubles and if
possible its multitudinous Charlatans — every thing
in short but the Enchantress of Numbers.

Originally published at https://mikegil.typepad.com.