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New Research Explodes Myths About Ada Lovelace (ox.ac.uk)
Two mathematics historians investigated the Lovelace-Byron family archives (which are available online) to confirm the early mathematical prowess of Ada Lovelace for two scholarly journals. Slashdot reader bugs2squash shares a post from the Oxford Mathematical Institute:
The work challenges widespread claims that Lovelace's mathematical abilities were more "poetical" than practical, or indeed that her knowledge was so limited that Babbage himself was likely to have been the author of the paper that bears her name. The authors pinpoint Lovelace's keen eye for detail, fascination with big questions, and flair for deep insights, which enabled her to challenge some deep assumptions in her teacher's work. They suggest that her ambition, in time, to do significant mathematical research was entirely credible, though sadly curtailed by her ill-health and early death.
Ada Lovelace died in London at age 36.
Ada Lovelace died in London at age 36.
Babbage asked her to fire an Enfield rifle at a book he held in front of himself. A daguerrotype technician was on hand to record the scene. Unfortunately, Lovelace had calculated the bullet's penetrating power using metric units not Imperial. When questioned by the constabulary, she exclaimed "Math is hard!"