Photo: Alfred Edward Chalon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Who She Is:
Ada Lovelace lived in the 1800s and is considered the world’s first computer programmer. She collaborated with Charles Babbage on an early design for a mechanical computer, known as the Analytical Engine. While machines like that weren’t built in her lifetime, she imagined how numbers could be turned into instructions, not just for math but for music, pictures, and more.
Why She Matters:
Lovelace showed that computers could be more than calculators, opening the door to the modern digital world. She inspires children to view technology as a creative tool that can extend beyond numbers to impact every aspect of life. Her story proves that imagination and ideas can sometimes be ahead of their time.
Learn More About Ada Lovelace
Go deeper with these hand-picked resources. Each one is selected by our team of educators to connect kids to this career through real stories and hands-on learning.
Ada and the Thinking Machine: The True Story of Ada Lovelace (Women In STEM)
Why We Picked It
This inspiring biography captures Ada Lovelace's story through vivid storytelling and detailed illustrations, making complex computing concepts approachable for young readers.
Ada Byron Lovelace & the Thinking Machine
Why We Picked It
This brilliantly illustrated picture book introduces Ada Lovelace, who combined her love of math, logic, and imagination to envision the first computer program in history.
Ada's Algorithm: How Lord Byron's Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age
Why We Picked It
This biography tells the remarkable story of Ada Lovelace, the visionary who imagined modern computing a century before computers existed by writing the world's first algorithm.
