When Lovelace Met Babbage
<p>When Lord Byron’s 17 year-old daughter, Ada Lovelace, attended a soirée at the home of academic Charles Babbage on 5th June, 1833, the pair hit it off immediately. He invited her to see his ‘Difference Engine’ - an early mechanical calculator - kicking off a correspondence that lasted throughout her life.</p><br><p>Their lively, intellectual correspondence, and Ada's deep understanding of mathematics and science, lead to her championing of Babbage’s ‘Analytical Engine’, a groundbreaking proto personal computer for which Ada even wrote an algorithm.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly debate whether Ada deserves her 21st century acclaim as the godmother of computer programming; expose her extramarital affairs and gambling habit; and consider whether Babbage himself even fully understood the applications for what he had invented…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum’ (Science Museum, 2023): <a href="https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum</a></p><p>• ‘How Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage Invented the World’s First Computer: An Illustrated Adventure in Footnotes and Friendship’ (The Marginalian, 2015): <a href="https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/06/15/the-thrilling-adventures-of-lovelace-and-babbage-sydney-padua/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/06/15/the-thrilling-adventures-of-lovelace-and-babbage-sydney-padua/</a></p><p>• ‘Ada Lovelace in “Victoria” (ITV, 2019): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOoCOUDdoeA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOoCOUDdoeA</a></p><br><p><em>Love the show? Support us!&nbsp;</em></p><p>Join&nbsp; 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…&nbsp;</p><br><p>… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.&nbsp;</p><p>Join now with a free trial on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/today-in-history-with-the-retrospectors/id1564093130" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://patreon.com/retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Patreon</a> and support our show ❤️</p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer:&nbsp;</em></p><p><em>Ollie Peart</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024. </em></p><br><p><br></p><br><p><br></p><p><br></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
When Lord Byron’s 17 year-old daughter, Ada Lovelace, attended a soirée at the home of academic Charles Babbage on 5th June, 1833, the pair hit it off immediately. He invited her to see his ‘Difference Engine’ - an early mechanical calculator - kicking off a correspondence that lasted throughout her life.
Their lively, intellectual correspondence, and Ada's deep understanding of mathematics and science, lead to her championing of Babbage’s ‘Analytical Engine’, a groundbreaking proto personal computer for which Ada even wrote an algorithm.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly debate whether Ada deserves her 21st century acclaim as the godmother of computer programming; expose her extramarital affairs and gambling habit; and consider whether Babbage himself even fully understood the applications for what he had invented…
Further Reading:
• ‘Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum’ (Science Museum, 2023): https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum
• ‘How Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage Invented the World’s First Computer: An Illustrated Adventure in Footnotes and Friendship’ (The Marginalian, 2015): https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/06/15/the-thrilling-adventures-of-lovelace-and-babbage-sydney-padua/
• ‘Ada Lovelace in “Victoria” (ITV, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOoCOUDdoeA
Love the show? Support us!
Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…
… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.
Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer:
Ollie Peart
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2024.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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