Feminist Frequency concludes Ordinary Women, their five-part video series on historical women who defied the limitations of their times, with the story of the woman widely acknowledged to have created the first computer program, Ada Lovelace.
The video takes you through her scandalous childhood (her mother left her father, the playboy poet Lord Byron, taking Ada with her!), her rare education, and her long friendship, mentorship (and possible romantic relationship??) with Charles Babbage, with whom she worked on his Analytical Engine (the first computer), creating the first program for it while translating his academic paper on it from English to French, adding her own notes, theories, and observations to it in the process, and tripling its length, making it one of the most important documents in computer history.
NBD.
So, enjoy watching the story of the mother of computer programming on this here fine computer or smartphone that you might not even have were it not for her. I’m sure she says, “You’re welcome.”
Feminist Frequency called this “Season 1” of Ordinary Women, which says to me that we may have more videos like this down the line! What historical women do you think deserve to be captured in a video portrait like this? Shout out your favorite “Ordinary Women” below!
(featured image via screencap)
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