This back to school season, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. Today's Womanican is Ada Lovelace (1815-1852). She is known as the first computer programmer. Despite living during a time when women were not considered scientific thinkers, her contributions to computer science are indispensable–and indisputable.
This month, we’re heading back to school – and we’re taking you along with us! For all of September, we’ll be bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. You’ll hear me – and some talented guest hosts – share both iconic and under-appreciated stories. But there’s a twist... each week is dedicated to a different school subject. This week: Women you should be learning about in math classes!
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Sara Schleede, Paloma Moreno Jimenez, Luci Jones, Abbey Delk, Hannah Bottum, Lauren Willams, and Adrien Behn. Special thanks to Shira Atkins. Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hey listeners, it's Jenny. This month, we're heading back to school and we're taking you along with us. For all of September, we're bringing back some of our favorite Womanica episodes you might have missed. You'll hear me and some talented guest hosts share both iconic and underappreciated stories, and there's a twist. Each week is dedicated to a different school subject. This week women you should be learning about in math class. These womanicuin stories show us just how exciting and diverse math really can be. So onto the show. Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica. This month we're highlighting innovators, women who helped shape the world we live in today, from inventors to activists. Today's innovator is known as the first computer programmer. Despite living during a time when women were not considered scientific thinkers, her contributions to computer science are indispensable and indisputable. Let's talk about Ada Lovelace. Augusta Ada Byron was born on December tenth, eighteen fifteen, in London, England, to Lord and Lady Byron. Lord Byron was a famous poet and Lady Byron was a mathematician. The two were opposites. Lady Byron was a woman of logic and science. Lord Byron was a man of imagination and romance. Shortly after Ada's birth, Lady Byron left and moved Ada out of their family home in an effort to keep Ada from inheriting her father's fanciful behaviors. Lady Byron educated her daughter in arithmetic, music, and French. She wanted to suppress AIDA's imagination, fearing that it was danger and potentially destructive. Lady Byron provided Aida with the best tutors. In turn, Ada fell in love with numbers. One of her tutors was Mary Somerville, a scientist and writer. Mary was responsible for introducing Aida to two very important people in her life, her husband and her mentor. When Ada was seventeen, she made her debut into society. At the party, Mary introduced Ada to the renowned mathematician Charles Babbage. Charles captivated Ada with his most recent invention, a two foot high brass mechanical calculator called the difference engine. After seeing the prototype in action, Ada began an almost two decade long correspondence with Charles. When Ada was nineteen, years old, she married William King. Three years later, William became an earl and Aida became the Countess of Lovelace. William and Ada had three children together and remained married until her death, but married life did not keep Ada from her first love math. In eighteen forty two, Charles Babbage had set his sights on a new invention called the analytical Engine. Ada was once again taken with the idea and became its interpreter. Although the machine was never built, the plans for it are believed to be the world's first digital computer. It had all of the necessary components and features of a modern day computer. With the hopes of securing financing for the project, Charles had an Italian mathematician write a paper on the machine. The paper was published in a Swiss academic journal in October of eighteen forty two. The next year, Ada published the English translation with her own notes. While the original paper was about eight thousand words, AIDA's version was twenty thousand. AIDA's notes are considered her greatest contribution to computer science. They went beyond simply describing how the engine worked. Ada explained that this machine would be able to understand symbols and could be used to create music and art. She also included a plan for using the analytical engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers. This plan is known as the first computer program. Ada had developed a personal philosophy that she called poetical science, a combination of science and imagination. She saw math and logic as creative and imaginative. Ada envisioned a world in which computers could perform faster and more accurate analyzes than humans. She imagined the modern day general purpose computer a century before its creation. In August of eighteen forty three, Ada wrote Charles a letter offering to be the public face of the machine. In modern day terms, Arles was the Steve Wozniak of Apple. He needed Ada to be as Steve jobs, but because of Charles's sexist view of women, he couldn't see Aida as more than an interpretis of his work. He rejected her offer, and the evolution of the computer was delayed by a century. Although AIDA's contributions are highly regarded today, this was not always the case. Years after her publication, scholars challenged the significance of AIDA's work. They believed her talents were blown out of proportion, as the importance of computer programming grew, there was an attempt to reclaim it as a male activity. AIDA's talents were often described as masculine, but she's an example of what women are capable of when they're given a window of opportunity, even if it's a small one. Aida died on November twenty seventh, eighteen fifty two, at the age of thirty six commuterine cancer. In nineteen eighty, the US Department of Defense developed a software language called ADA. It brought together several different programming languages. Founded in two thousand and nine, the second Tuesday of every October marks Ada Lovelace Day. Thanks for listening to this best of episode of Womanica. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast Special thanks to lose Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator, join us tomorrow for another one of our favorite episodes, honoring the back to school season. Talk to you then,