The Story Behind The World’s First Computer Programmer

In her recently released book Broad Band, Claire L. Evans invites readers to learn about women who have been forgotten in tech history. Ada Lovelace may not be a household name like Steve Jobs but she is possibly the first computer programmer.
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Following is the transcript of the video:
How A Woman From The 1800s Became The First Computer Programmer
Claire L. Evans: Ada Lovelace understood that if you could make a machine that calculated not just individual numbers but abstract variables that you could use computers to weave numbers, musical notes, any kind of symbolic language and that it could be applied to really anything in the way that it is in our modern world.
Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the poet Lord Byron. She was a mathematician in the Victorian Age, the very first computer programmer. Her father was known as a kind of louche, romantic, you know, a little bit seedy, a little bit crazy, a little bit wild. When he divorced her mother, she decided that she was going to try to curb out all the romantic tendencies in her daughter's spirit by teaching her mathematics, rigorously, from a very young age. So she was instructed in the maths and sciences from childhood, but unfortunately, she retained some of her father's poetic spirit, so she became fixated with the idea of mathematics as a form of poetry, and as a metaphysical art in and of itself.
She wrote all of these mathematicians and scientists of her day into corresponding with her and giving her lessons, but ultimately, yeah, she was an autodidact. She read everything she could get her hands on, she kept up-to-date with all the scientific publications of her day, she corresponded with people that she admired, and she organized little scientific salons in her immediate social circles. So she taught herself everything she knew. And she ended up spending her life developing mathematical proofs for the earliest computer. In fact, before computers were even built, she made mathematical proofs that can be characterized as the earliest computer programs for a machine called the difference engine and then the analytical engine.
So Ada Lovelace's primary contribution to the history of computer science is a set of notes that she wrote that were footnotes of the translation of a paper written about Charles Babbage's analytical engine, which was a machine that he was having a really hard time getting funded by the British government. He traveled around Europe giving talks about the machine. One of the people that saw one of those talks was a young Italian engineer named L. F. Menabrea, who ended up becoming the Prime Minister of Italy. He wrote a technical paper about the analytical engine that was published in a Swiss journal. Ada read it. She thought it was pretty good. But she thought she could do better.
She showed it to Babbage, and she said, "Couldn't I do better than this?", basically. She ended up creating a volume of notes that ended up being several times more voluminous than the original paper. She made a massive jump that wasn't really recognized until the 1950s, the dawn of the computing age. A number of computer scientists rediscovered her notes and republished them because they had essentially predicted everything that they were doing in the early days of computing. We have to actively make sure that we develop our own history and keep it updated and maintain it and open it up to as many people as possible.

[@LandNfan]

I don’t understand many of these comments being about man vs. woman. Programming is not gender specific. I have known and worked with quite a few very talented female programmers. I don’t know about you, but I certainly can not determine the gender of the programmer from looking at the source code. Twice in my career I had the privilege of hearing Adm. Grace Hopper speak to a group I was in.

[@47moris]

I think the meaning of programming is not about gender, but soul.

[@Aecor]

@@47moris *amount of depression

[@IShowVelocity.]

@@Aecor YES AND AGREED ✅️

[@urmentor4362]

Men dominates technological side while women are not capable of that

[@kikimathers8939]

There is a rise in incels. U see this kind of unnecessary comment almost everywhere nowaday even if the content has nothing to do with women Vs men

[@FUTURSTCGAM3R]

The difference engine was demonstrated by Charles Babbage in 1822,but ten years later he thought of a better idea,an analytical engine,or a computer as we call it,so basically he started it

[@fwwsophia]

He thought of it

[@mokshroychadha4406]

that's why coding is complex. 😂😂😂

[@itsmuzz1583]

Now I understand, why I always get errors.

[@sid98geek]

It all fits together. It all makes sense!

[@vincelam1998]

LOLOL

[@acorgiwithacrown467]

Moksh Roy Chadha it's not that difficult ._.

[@mokshroychadha4406]

corgidog i believe you bruv.

[@HattieMcDanielonaMoon]

Ada looks so fancy in her portrait.

[@moobit]

Ada's father Lord Byron is (within a few metres), buried in my back garden! :D Ada is a very inspirational person from my local history... :)

[@bndctgg]

proof?

[@fpsgod3028]

@@bndctgg It wouldn't be that difficult. Lord Byron is just buried in a church is a decently sized city lol

[@evansyomu2879]

Unfortunately Ada died alone after being abondoned by her husband on a death bed 😣

[@hassanbelmekki624]

she was talking in C language, there was too many "if" and "else if" with "while True" xD hea had to leave it was complicated

[@zipkiktoo7023]

I cringe when people say someone "predicted" something when really they were involved in the creation, and provided theoretical basis in the development of this so-called "prediction".

[@JeevanSamagar]

🔥🔥🔥 These fires came while listening 🎧....

[@bras7855]

this was a surprisingly relaxing video

[@cyrusiithegreat2824]

so i have a question: does modern day program and software relate on her programing language or she's just the first person who program a computer ?

[@d.bcooper2316]

yes it does affect modern day programming fundamentals!

[@cyrusiithegreat2824]

@@d.bcooper2316 how it does exactly ? did people using her programing language or just theory and idea ? and who is more important to modern programing Turing or Lovelace ? just question.

[@d.bcooper2316]

@@cyrusiithegreat2824 she realized that the computer could follow a series of simple instructions, a program, to perform a complex calculation

[@d.bcooper2316]

@@cyrusiithegreat2824 she just programmed the algorithms which inspired mostly all of the programming languages today

[@d.bcooper2316]

​@@cyrusiithegreat2824maybe Turing will be considered more important, Ada just happened to be the first programmer ​

[@guabiscorner]

She was the one who had the idea to use the Jacquard punched card to make the Babbage engine work. And she wrote the first algorithm for thi engine. Byron's creativity + mathematical knowledge(her mother made her study mathematics) and we have innovation. Why do you have to disrespect her ? C'mon. Grow up!

[@princexavier1844]

Tech insider team kindly upload details about animated movies

[@acorgiwithacrown467]

._. You didn't mention she was forced into learning mathematics by her parents and shouldn't there be more praise towards Charles Babbage? The genius who invented the difference engine and anylitical machine. If you've ever seen either of those machines you'd have to agree he was extremely intelligent and in my opinion a far more important person than her.

[@Serendipity-nh2uk]

Why are you so butthurt a woman is getting the credit she deserves?

[@rodericblack4657]

@@Serendipity-nh2uk She doesn't deserve any credit. She just translated a paper from French to English with some notes she added herself (with help from Charles Babbage). That's it, this claim that she is the first programmer stems from that.

[@misstriciambabazi6974]

​@@rodericblack4657your a saddest and your bleeding

[@ikaru5089]

​@@rodericblack4657stay mad

[@rodericblack4657]

@@ikaru5089 Not mad. Maybe I should be though, as she is being given credit for something which she didn't do. As I just pointed out and you ignored.

[@pushkarmourya9732]

Yeh a nice fact...

[@TheThennowforever]

Her contribution to advancing computer was by coincidence it wasn't directly intentional for this reason it doesn't make sense to call her the first programmer

[@gabrielgarcia7554]

How does being the first person writing computational programs in machine code not count as being the first programmer? What are your criteria?

[@rodericblack4657]

@@gabrielgarcia7554 She DIDN'T write any program, she translated one from French to English, with some additions made with help from Charles Babbage. It does not make sense whatsoever to call her the first programmer.

[@all_about_sports_cha]

@@rodericblack4657 why are you offended ? She is the first programmer if you want it or not.

[@rodericblack4657]

@@all_about_sports_cha Did you even read my comment? She translated a bunch of notes and made minor additions with help. She is 100% not the first programmer.

[@batmandoraemon1196]

Wow I've just read it a few days ago. What a coincidence By the way, she died at 34 very young

[@xonone2838]

Would of loved to meet her

[@Dr_chukss]

I love the narrator 😍

[@samikalastaja]

The only thing that matters if we can get Doom running on The difference engine.

[@untypistown3791]

Lord Byron did not divorce lady Byron, they separated.

[@nantzstein]

I thought the "World’s First Computer Programmer" was a carpet maker ???? .

[@hasenmohammed6242]

very good

[@zackfair872]

that computer!wow ! only 1 questions! can it run window 10? can that machine run crysis? 0:04

[@xylu5886]

Almost all the comments are misogynistic.... Not comfortable about this

[@evanderespinozaee]

Xy Lu it's not really misogynistic if they're pointing out how inmacurate it is

[@prodbycaz3785]

I don’t think it is, there may be a few but you do have to be looking for them to spot them. what everyone is saying is that the engine was never put into practice by her and as someone else said it was nothing more than a theory, I don’t know if this is true but what I gathered from the video is that she was not the original creator of the machine. she just simply worked off somebody else’s ideas who made this before her which means the video is contradicting itself in saying she became the first programmer in the title and then saying another person came up with the machine first in the actual video this is why it makes people think that it is just a lie that is trying to promote feminism which is seen by many as a negative movement due to its reputation as a man hating group

[@ElPsyKongroo]

You can make a computer with dominoes lmao

[@midnightslui]

Hey You keep using Roboto font.

[@aidanknisch1996]

She was barely instrumental in the making of Computer Programming. Credit should go to people who went very in-depth and actually implemented it. Such as Alan Turing

[@IShowVelocity.]

Charles cabbage : what de fok

[@kenneth2519]

Its Leia !

[@KhalilStark]

I need a quick recap about how this lady did what she did please,in 10 lines.

[@Danatron]

she wasn't the first programmer, she just took all the code from stackoverflow

[@amalxavier5102]

One way or another humans would know how to programme,so it doesnt matter who got it first

[@sheebaikhtiya1110]

Her pronunciation is not proper for people of other countries ... The words lack clarity

[@lenniegodber7805]

Ada Lovelace created an algorithm she couldn't test for a device that was never built She was a theorist whose work contributed absolutely nothing to the world of modern computing, and yet women are so desperate for their gender to have a slice of relevancy in the world of computer development that they will conflate her significance out of all proportion. The first computer programmer she may have been but the roots of the modern smartphone don't lie in her hands but in those of men like Alan Turing.

[@yogbrana]

Lennie Godber I agree

[@yahtadi5152]

Even that caster looks like feminazy

[@cyrusiithegreat2824]

does the computer tech we use right now relate to her programing language or not ? just question.

[@urmentor4362]

@@cyrusiithegreat2824 lol that's outdated af she didint even do sht

[@cyrusiithegreat2824]

@aditya-lv4og tks u

[@karebu2]

Lovelace? She used a wand.

[@hunteranubis]

I dont care about the woman I care about the machine

[@geliccat]

first computer programmer?

[@rezamousavi8181]

Yes?

[@NewMateo]

Ah. So buy Cardano?

[@Ricky-wz3su]

Check your facts, if she never existed the word of computer programming would be the same

[@thecaptain4630]

But can she run crysis?.........

[@MaisonBlair-fx9mg]

Auooooger bauoooooogggerr

[@Heyhey-bm7uw]

Nice fact ty!..

[@ajabrar6557]

That’s why computer language is a difficult thing to understand.

[@slugzz6094]

she is so beautiful

[@insoft_uk]

Was the first computer programmer, at least in the theoretical sense. Alan Turing regarded as the worlds first true computer programmer.

[@dankeykang4576]

More revisionist feminist history. How nice...

[@urmentor4362]

@@joehughes01 she had the ideas didnt invented a computer lol

[@frankboogaard88]

Here is why videos like this go wrong: Ada Lovelace was never a Programmer. She was a visionary who imagined how a device, imagined by someone she knew, might have produced usable results, she DID write code for that imaginary device, but, even though the device and the code have been proven to work, it was NOT coding.

[@hamad9192]

Shut up she was a mechanical computer programmer she was not a electronic computer programmer🙄

[@destroyeryt-iz9dj]

i bet that wasent the first programmer if you know what i mean🤣

[@dayosda]

Elaborate

[@Bloomzyblack]

Elaborate

[@wilmalamadrid5020]

Elaborate

[@notevencalm]

Elaborate

[@sachabourel9375]

Elaborate

[@ThaoNguyen-fp5xd]

Hay quá

[@i.m.gurney]

For a greater depth review of Ada, a BBC documentary on her life & input. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5i4h6WwoLaamtU

[@i.m.gurney]

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p030s5bx

[@mindmatters6954]

😊

[@TurinTurambarTolkien]

So, IOW, she stole all of her ideas from a bunch of Men.

[@lassealbrecht3671]

Skin shrug act okay conscious fight assume contain.

[@swarnalatha608]

,nagarjuna

[@blockchainbot.6596]

So called 'alpha' nerd would be foaming at the mouth right now. Lol.

[@olejaben9693]

Stop lying to us.She spent most of her time cooking and talking too much about programs she had no ability and capacity to build. That is what she was really good at.

[@Naiuhz]

One of the first*

[@Welljiteshkumar]

🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@madsschulze9782]

Establish donor steel carve speaker house celebration finish medium draft neck mayor alien.

[@huffandpoot]

And this fake news just made me unsubscribe from this channel. Bye bye birdie

[@mattd03411]

You can tell this women is living way to bi-curiously thought some one else's accomplishments. SAD! You are a woman she was a woman but I can almost guarantee she probably wouldn't want anything to do with someone like you.

[@kitashi0]

That's why we can't understand computers

[@daniellindqvist7439]

cool go control survive greet bomb parking survivor supreme exactly consult manner.

[@yahtadi5152]

Even that caster looks like feminazy

[@DatowdaArts]

Early squad :D

[@theemoemu1220]

3rd

[@furankisama2926]

Colin Stephenson 5th

[@joaquinpalacios1230]

Third

[@furankisama2926]

Joaquin Palacios 4th

[@owletdoug603]

Second

[@furankisama2926]

Owlet doug correct

[@retroman8582]

1st

[@furankisama2926]

Jack Castle correct

[@kirzuu]

15th like

[@shemgaming3780]

WtF a woman!!Must be men😎

[@Heyhey-bm7uw]

semchummunxd gaand mars fuc.u

[@joshuanorman2]

what a really weird comment chain

[@shemgaming3780]

Boshua Borman sorry😅

[@sayanbiswas3497]

Men 🚽?? 😂😂 Women invent computer programming language 😂

[@snoodles224]

Omg..the host is really cute!