Wednesday, March 25 2009: Ada Lovelace Day
I forgot to blog on Ada Lovelace Day as I had pledged to do, reinforcing what I already know to be true that I am unreliable wermin. Even if I had blogged on Ada Lovelace Day as I had pledged to do, I wouldn't have thought of anything to say, so here I am not saying anything the day after Ada Lovelace Day. I think the gist of what they were hoping for were heart-warming stories showing how girls are g33ks, too, but I could be wrong about that.
I think it's cool that the first computer programmer in the world was a women during the late Victorian era. I think that a large part of the subsequent computer revolution (which began in earnest in the 1930s) is probably the result at least indirectly of work she and Babbage did together. I think that there's a good chance that Babbage did not give her proper credit for her contributions, and I think everyone probably agrees that's not right, but I know that I don't really know anything about this topic. Ada Lovelace is a symbol to me more than a real person, partially because of my gross ignorance and partially because for a large part of history women's achievements weren't deemed worthy of recording.
There's a cool quote I would insert here, if I were at home and had access to the book, from "Dinosaur in the Haystack" by SJ Gould about how things that are lost to history are forever truly lost. He says it eloquently, but I think the idea itself is poignant enough that this paltry crumb will serve you readers.
I think it's cool that the first computer programmer in the world was a women during the late Victorian era. I think that a large part of the subsequent computer revolution (which began in earnest in the 1930s) is probably the result at least indirectly of work she and Babbage did together. I think that there's a good chance that Babbage did not give her proper credit for her contributions, and I think everyone probably agrees that's not right, but I know that I don't really know anything about this topic. Ada Lovelace is a symbol to me more than a real person, partially because of my gross ignorance and partially because for a large part of history women's achievements weren't deemed worthy of recording.
There's a cool quote I would insert here, if I were at home and had access to the book, from "Dinosaur in the Haystack" by SJ Gould about how things that are lost to history are forever truly lost. He says it eloquently, but I think the idea itself is poignant enough that this paltry crumb will serve you readers.
