Name: The First Computer Programmer Was a Woman // Ada Lovelace // Ad [CC]
Uploaded: 2020-04-06T07:51:08.000Z
Duration: 17 min 35 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Welcome to the first entry of 2020 entry my 'historical figures' playlist. If you're

Adverbs of degree

just joining us and you enjoy learning about queer or disabled people of the past who did

amazing things then subscribe! Today we're going to be talking about Ada Lovelace, an

English mathematician and writer, the first to recognise that computers had applications

beyond pure calculation and is thus sometimes called the woman who wrote the first algorithm.

She lived a tempestuous but sadly short life with many exciting twists that we'll be

Whilst not necessarily classed as 'disabled' Ada struggled with chronic illness throughout

her life and managed to achieve many wonderful things despite dealing with a body that occasionally

- which is something my body does because I have Hereditary Neuropathy with liability

Today's video is sponsored by Skillshare,

- it's my first sponsored historical profile, yay!

Skillshare is an online learning platform that harnesses video to teach a range of topics.

You'll remember from my DIY vintage hair piece video that Skillshare have a number

of crafty lessons but they also branch out into very technical areas, with everything

from coding to music production. Already a large number of courses are captioned and

they're looking to extend that across the site. Which is something talked about in my

class pick of the day: 'Inclusive UX: Designing Websites for Everyone by Regine Gilbert, a

- 'UX' means 'User Experience' by the way.

Her Skillshare Original course focuses on the importance of prioritizing a user experience

that includes people of all abilities. The class is only 30 minutes long but packs in

key ideas, tools and best practices for creating inclusive and welcoming websites and digital

You don't need to be an expert to understand this course- believe me, I'm not at all

clued up on coding or the modern… modern computing… stuff… but if you're a budding

Ada or an old hand you'll still be able to take something away from this course because,

Skillshare is giving away 2 free months of Premium Membership to help you explore your

creativity, just click the link in the description box. After that it's only around $10 a month

and it's really worth it, especially when compared to pricey in-person classes and workshops.

As a member you also have the opportunity to give and receive feedback on projects through

the creators community- which is really helpful when learning a new skill!

Whether you're interested in using your tech powers for good or just learning some

simple painting techniques, click that link to get started.

The Hon. Augusta Ada Byron was born in England on the 10 December 1815 to Anne Isabella Noel

Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth and George Gordon Byron, the 6th Baron Byron, more commonly

known as 'Lord Byron the poet and terrible father'

- Okay, I added the second bit. But you'll see!

Ada's mother, Anne Isabella, commonly nicknamed 'Annabella', was a highly educated and

strictly religious woman. As a child her extreme intelligence had been cultivated by her parents

who hired as her tutor a former Cambridge University professor. Her education thus proceeded

much like that of a Cambridge student; with studies involving classical literature, philosophy,

In fact Lord Byron nicknamed her his "princess of parallelograms".

- Right, side note. You may find it confusing that Lord Byron is called 'Lord' Byron

despite being a Baron. Well, yes, the British peerage is confusing but to break it down:

- In descending order: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Lord is a generic term

that is used to denote members of the peerage and most often used by Barons who are rarely

addressed by their formal title. The correct way of addressing Byron would be 'The Lord

Byron' but no one actually says 'The' because that's unwieldy. Marguesses, Earls

and Viscounts are are also commonly addressed as 'Lord' but Dukes aren't because they

use the style of 'The Duke of…' (Cambridge for example). Formally you would address them

as 'Your Grace' rather than 'My Lord'. Because religion.

Annabella was a cold, stiff, religious woman and an unlikely match for the amoral and agnostic

poet Lord Byron. She met him socially in 1812 because he had began a relationship with her

Byron's popularity was soaring following his many literary successes but he was deeply

in debt because he refused to make money from his work as he believed business was not appropriate

for a gentleman and seemed to prefer extreme financial distress.

She also suspected that Byron was having an affair with his half sister.

He proposed in October 1812 through her aunt and in response Annabella wrote a scathing

summary of his character and refused him, telling her mother "He is a very bad, very

good man". However, plagued with an obsession for her modesty and intellect, Byron proposed

Annabella decided that, aware of Byron's rage, philandering, drinking and money troubles,

it was her Christian duty to support him and improve his behaviour.

If only she'd had better friends who could point out that was a stupid idea…

During the summer of 1815, he began to unleash his anger and hostility on his wife. His moods

were dark, he drank heavily and began an affair with an actress. Annabella, now pregnant,

became extremely distressed and wrote to Byron's half sister, Augusta Leigh,

the Byron's home to assist and upon arrival became the new subject of Lord Byron's wrath.

On the 10th of December Annabella gave birth to Ada but this only seemed to increase Byron's

He had written in letters that he expected his child to be a "glorious boy" and was highly

disappointed when she turned out to be a girl. He named her Augusta Ada Byron after the half-sister

he was clearly far too fond of, who had the year before given birth to a child that the

On 16 January 1816, Lord Byron commanded that Lady Byron left for her parents' home and

took five-week-old Ada with her. It was to be the last time Ada ever saw her father.

He left England four months later and officially separated from his wife. Although British

law at the time granted full custody of children to the father in cases of separation, Lord

Byron made no attempt to claim his parental rights and died of disease in the Greek War

of Independence, fighting the Ottoman Empire, when Ada was eight years old.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

The First Computer Programmer Was a Woman // Ada Lovelace // Ad [CC]

struggle

mental

experience

extreme