ADA LOVELACE, POET OF SCIENCE

Stanley surveys the brief life of Byron’s daughter, whose scientific education and inquiring mind shaped her foundational contributions to computer science.

Raised by the hyperrational Lady Byron, Ada’s creative ingenuity is shaped by the study of math and science. Touring newly industrialized factories, Ada’s fascinated by Jacquard’s mechanical loom, which uses encoded, hole-punched paper cards to weave fabrics from plaids to brocades. Introduced to London society at 17, Ada is flummoxed by fashion and gossip, but she’s entranced once introduced to mathematician Charles Babbage and his circle of scientists and writers. Encountering Babbage’s “Difference Engine”—a prototypical calculating machine—Ada forms a pivotal connection with the inventor. Marriage and children follow for Lovelace, but her later translation of an article about Babbage’s proposed “Analytical Engine” secures their partnership’s significance within the incremental timeline of machine science. Ada’s extensive Notes explain how to encode complex calculations, marking her own unique contribution. Stanley efficiently takes readers through Ada’s childhood and career, choosing details that develop her subject as both a human being and a landmark scientist. Complementing the clear prose, Hartland’s whimsical gouache pictures portray white figures with coral lips and in period dress. Gestural brushstrokes loosely evoke landscapes and interiors, yet scores of objects—from book titles and period toys to an omnipresent cat—provide plentiful visual interest.

Pithy narrative plus charming pictures equals an admiring, admirable portrait of a STEM pioneer.