"That Enchantress who has thrown her magical spell around the most abstract of Sciences and has grasped it with a force which few masculine intellects could have exerted over it."October 14th is one of the less known holidays on the geek calendar, but nonetheless an important one. Today is Ada Lovelace Day, a celebration of the accomplishments of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Ada Lovelace as described by Charles Babbage.
For readers unfamiliar with Ada King, Lady Lovelace, she is a pivotal figure in the history of computing, working closely with Charles Babbage, the creator of a steampunk gear-driven calculating machine that he called the Difference Engine*. Lovelace's speculations as to the potential of Babbage's proposed next-gen Analytical Engine, published in 1842, predict the eventual development of hardware able to solve a wide variety of mathematical problems, and her notes regarding the manner in which the Engine could calculate a sequence of Bernoulli numbers are widely considered to be the first computer program in history.
Although I completely agree with the adoption of Lady Lovelace as the symbol of women in science, why not celebrate the more visionary arts as well? Let's acknowledge the woman who occupies the same position in the pantheon of science fiction authors that Ms. Lovelace holds in the programming world, the woman who invented Frankenstein's monster, the woman who wrote the first eponymous post-apocalyptic Last Man novel in 1826? Next year, let's see if we can't get Mary Shelley Day onto the calendar as well.
- Sid
* Astute readers will recognize this term in the title of one of my birthday gifts - a book in which an alternate history Lady Lovelace makes an appearance.
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