Ada’s parents were
mismatched from the start. Byron, the scandalous romantic poet, and
Annabella, her scientifically inclined mother, had little in comon.
Their romance ended in marriage and finally a bitter divorce.
Annabella refused to allow Byron access to his daughter, so she grew
up with only his portrait and poems.
As a child, Ada was
secluded by her mother, but she yearned for more intellectual
discourse. Finally, as a debutante, she was introduced to the social
circles in London that she craved. She married Thomas, Lord Lovelace,
but the marriage suffered from Ada’s propensity for gambling and
affairs. Her greatest and most well known achievement was helping
Babbage with his computing machine. Some people call her the first
computer programmer.
This is a very well
researched book spanning not only Ada’s life, but her parents brief
marriage. The book opens with her parent’s courtship then moves
into Ada’s early life and finally her marriage. I enjoyed the brief
description of her parent’s courtship and marriage. However, I
found Ada’s early life slow going. The best part was the ending
where she helped Babbage. Although the early life was interesting and
gave us a picture of the factors that shaped Ada, I thought it was a
bit too comprehensive.
If you’re
interested in a strong female figure, I recommend this book. Ada
worked at a scientific project at a time when most women were content
to be wives and mothers.
I received this book
from Dutton for this review.
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