Ada Lovelace
The World’s First Computer Programmer
by Beverley Adams
Pub Date 30 Mar 2023
Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History
Biographies & Memoirs | History | Nonfiction (Adult)


Pen & Sword and Netgalley have provided me with a copy of Ada Lovelace for review:



While Ada Lovelace is not a name you would automatically associate with computer science, she was the first person to create a computer algorithm. As part of her work with Charles Babbage, Lovelace translated notes on Babbage's new mechanical computer, The Analytical Engine, and discovered that it was capable of much more than simple mathematical calculations.


Although Lovelace was a mathematical genius, she was also a figure of great scrutiny as the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron. Ada was abandoned by her father at the age of four weeks, and she spent her childhood under the strict care of her mother who was determined that her daughter would not inherit the so-called Byron madness. Throughout her education, she ensured that Ada was denied all things that were considered exciting, and was instead pushed to concentrate on logical subjects such as science and mathematics. Did this strict approach prove to be effective? Did Ada Lovelace inherit more than her father's genius?




Besides being a daughter, a wife, and a mother, Ada was also an inspirational woman, who defied Victorian ideals by pursuing mathematical studies and achieving greatness that is still recognized today.


I give Ada Lovelace five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Pr gifted from Pen & Sword via @netgalley

The first 40% of this book is dominated by Lovelaces Byron heritage. And it comes back in full throttle for the last 10%.

I enjoyed all the commentary about Ada’s own story and why we know her name today. Google how many books are written about her ! Helpfully, the author explains her story is part of curriculum in English schools, in an effort to promote female take up of STEM subjects.

It’s the first time I’ve read a book which provided so much subjective commentary on an individual. But it is well articulated and hard to disagree with any of the conclusions reached.

However, I’m left with wondering, a book about a person whose name and achievements are being promoted as an example to girls , why it contains so much commentary about her father. Albeit, the author does paint an engrossing picture of Ada’s mother.

This book focused more on Byron and positing his reasoning for his actions than really on Ada. I didn’t really learn anything new with this and I learned a lot more about Byron than I wanted to. The author also kind of glossed over some things that Byron did and that made me not like this book as much.

I wanted to read this book to learn more about Ada Lovelace. All I knew about her was a general, rather vague "she was Lord Byron's daughter, she was good at math, she helped Charles Babbage do something with his Analytical Machine." I knew she is now considered highly influential in computer programming but was hoping to learn more about all of that.

Sadly, this turned out not to be the book to go to to learn really anything more than what I already knew. If you want to know about the Byron family, this has plenty on the history of the family -not just Ada's father- and the author admits from the beginning to being a fan of Lord Byron's works. Possibly because of this, Lord Byron get off lightly here. His failures as a husband and father aren't completely ignored (that would be impossible) but there is a surprising amount of 'things could have been different if Ada was raised by her father, but he thought it was better she was with her mother'. Ada's mother doesn't come out of this very well, although it's hard to see how this controlling and manipulative woman could sound good-especially to modern audiences.

The book itself is short and may be intended as more of a brief introduction to Ada's life than a real dive into her work and why she is today considered so important. Because there is actually very little time spent on her mathematical and computer work or her work with Babbage. It is mostly personal life, and that life is at a distance. This was more Ada seen through others than getting to know Ada herself. We get speculation and questions with few facts. Is this because there are few surviving letters or journals from friends or family members? You'd never know from this book. The writing style itself was highly repetitive, rambling, and perhaps more stream of conscious than I'd expect in a nonfiction book and I found myself very annoyed by it. Better editing to cut the repetition would have helped this book a lot.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

If you want to learn about Byron and his family this is a good introduction, if you want to know about Ada Lovelace and how she was fundamental in the development of computer science you will be disappointed as there's not too much.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

In a new biography of Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, Beverley Adams brings the first computer programmer to life. First introducing her contributions and (re)discovery by Alan Turing in the twentieth century, Adams then turns to Ada’s parents, their unorthodox and ultimately unhappy marriage, and the complications of her father, famous poet Lord Byron, and Annabella Milbanke’s desire to protect her daughter Ada from everything -- including Ada herself. The rest of the book follows Ada’s childhood, marriage to the Earl of Lovelace William King, friendship with inventor Charles Babbage, her contributions to the Difference Engine, and her tragically early death. Adams concludes by discussing the challenges of observing Ada’s life and the myth of the “Byron madness,” a critical historical evaluation that focuses on the challenges of reading into difficult lives, parent-child relationships, and physical and mental illness. Adams successfully brings Ada to life, and the attention to detail and analysis serves this book very well. With helpful images and an index, Adams’s book is well-structured, and the book is very readable; when combined with Ada’s relatability to a modern audience, the book becomes incredibly fascinating and relevant to the modern reader. The book is fascinating, tragic, compelling, and informative, bringing one of the most important inventors -- male or female -- to life.

A short, lively and informative biography of Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and the world’s first computer programmer.
Adams has an informal, easy to read writing style that makes this an enjoyable read.
There is far more information about Ada the woman, than Ada the mathematician and computer programmer, so if you are specifically interested in these aspects, then this might not be the best book for you. Adams has chosen a more personal than professional angle, and has also studied Ada’s life in relation to her absent father, with whom she became obsessed despite having never met him.
It was interesting to read the theories of the ‘Byron curse’, suggesting that there was a history of mental illness running through the family. Certainly, they all seemed to display addictive and impulsive personalities.
All in all, an enjoyable read for fans of biographies, women’s history or Byron.

Beverley Adams, Ada Lovelace The World’s First Computer Programmer, Pen & Sword, Pen & Sword History 2023

Thank you NetGalley and Pen& Sword for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

This is the second of Beverly Adams’ biographies that I have read. Once again I am impressed with the way in which Adams has assembled her material to advance an enlightening and plausible account of a woman for whom there is a meagre amount of material. The narrative provides a thorough insight into Ada Lovelace’s childhood as the daughter of Lord Byron and his disaffected wife, Arabella Milbanke; her marriage and friendships; and the historical context in which Ada lived, studied and formulated the first computer algorithm. The emphasis on Byron could be considered problematic. However, to find a new way into Byron and his work and troubles through his marriage and daughter is a benefit rather than a shortcoming. At no time does Adams lose sight of her focus on Ada - her parents’ and their response to each other is essential to her story. This is one of genius, sadness and at times, some surprising levity and foolishness. The Ada Lovelace conjured up by Adams gives us a rounded figure that resonates.

Adams acknowledges that her interest in Lord Byron was a feature in choosing Ada Lovelace as another of the strong women she wants publicise. She suggests that both had colourful lives, and while one was a poet of renown, the other had to fight to achieve recognition in the field of mathematics and computer science. Her mother was instrumental in Ada’s commitment, which she saw as reflecting her own interests, and avoiding those of Ada’s father – a source of public distress and condemnation from soon after Ada’s birth. Byron left the mother and daughter when Ada was four weeks old. Her mother spent her lifetime ensuring, with a somewhat heavy hand, that his characteristics were never to be reflected in Ada’s behaviour. The parents and their shortcomings, larger than life personalities, determination and conflict were to control Ada until her marriage put her under another less than benign wing, that of Lord Lovelace.

Despite the control exerted by her family, society’s expectations, her own failings and questionable choices, Ada’s mathematical ability flourished. There amount of detail that Adams has managed to find is laudable, although it would have been wonderful to have more about the way in which Ada conducted her work. However, what is described provides a satisfying tribute to Ada’s ability. Her ill health, relationships with her mother, friends, fellow mathematicians, and father’s life and absence from hers make a compelling story.

The almost insurmountable absence of material about so many women’s lives makes writing about those that are essential to our understanding of women’s capacity a heavy task. Adams has undertaken this task in two instances and her work provides an example for others who want to write about a woman of note about whom little is known. By making these lives so accessible through the Pen & Sword series Adams has done an estimable job – the women have not only been celebrated, but in a form that makes information about their talents available to a wide range of readers.

Ada Lovelace The World’s First Computer Programmer is complete with a bibliography, notes and photographs. Adams also provides a valuable discussion of Ada’s mother’s contribution to her problems as well as Ada’s ability to meet the challenges posed by her health, brilliance and family background.

My thanks to Pen & Sword for a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

I first heard or rather read Ada Lovelace’s name way back in class V, where our introductory textbook on computers talked of Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine (with I think a diagram of the machine) and of Lady Ada Lovelace who worked in connection with it. At that time, neither did I know that Ada Lovelace was Byron’s daughter, nor did I really understand the significance of her achievements especially in terms of a woman in her time working in the field of science and mathematics, but the name stuck in my mind and I got even more interested in her later on when I discovered these other things. But so far, I hadn’t really got a chance to read anything about her and my knowledge was fairly superficial. So, of course when I spotted this book, I immediately put in a request and was very pleased to get a chance to read the book.

In this short volume, author and historian Beverley Adams explores the life of this intelligent and complex woman, a romantic figure because of her connection with Byron and her early death, and for which reason she was also always closely watched, an imaginative and gifted young woman skilled in mathematics who made significant contributions, but also a woman who had a troubled emotional and personal life and went through many ups and downs. Beginning with some background of the Byron family, and Byron’s life and his toubled marriage with Annabelle, Adams takes us through Ada’s unusual childhood, which saw her under her mother’s strict control; her inventive mind and work with mathematics and Charles Babbage; her married life which was impacted by both the emotional scars of her childhood and perhaps the Byron personality; the scandals that came to be associated with her; her illness and death; and the legacy she left behind.

Annabelle’s troubled marriage with Byron translated to a very strict and controlled upbringing for Ada, so as to ensure that she was protected from things that afflicted Byron. But while this may have had its benefits, especially in Ada being educated in science and mathematics (perhaps to keep her away from poetry), it also led to her lacking friends and affection, and later in life perhaps unable to even bond with her children very deeply. And while she was able to make significant contributions in terms of identifying the true potential and applications of Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, her marriage had its share of troubles (despite a very understanding husband), and she struggled with gambling, weight issues, and illness, making her in a sense as complicated and multifaceted a person as her father (and to an extent also her mother).

For a person who didn’t know much about Ada Lovelace, I thought this book did a good job of giving one an idea of Ada’s life and the many facets of her personality. I especially enjoyed reading about her early attempts at inventing a flying machine (and this was not mere imagination but she had undertaken serious study of birds and set up a mechanism with ropes and pulleys), as also her later, more significant contribution to Babbage’s Analytical Engine. Although Adams doesn’t go into the details of the paper Ada wrote, we are able to guage how Ada was able to see potential in the Analytical Engine far beyond what Babbage himself did, including how it could calculate Bernoulli numbers. Alongside we also see how the cold and strict upbringing she received affected the other parts of her life, in terms of relationships, ill-judged romantic attachments, and even imprudent gambling schemes.

Adams, I thought brought out well, how all three personalities, Byron, Annabelle and Ada were rather complex and hard to classify (Ada’s husband William King was by comparison far more ‘normal’)— Byron’s ill-treatment of Annabelle (which I thought Adams lets him off rather lightly for) and initial reaction at Ada’s birth contrasting with his expression of concern for and keeping up with news of Ada later; Annabelle’s experience with her marriage translating to a cold, controlling and at times decidedly cruel treatment of Ada; and Ada’s upbringing and her Byron personality bringing out sides to her which lead to emotional and relationship troubles, while on the other hand her skills with numbers (like her father’s with words) leading to contributions more important than even she realised. One can to an extent sympathise with each of them, but particularly so Ada who never really got the space or the freedom to really be herself—always watched, always controlled.

However, despite all of this, reading the book, one somehow feels one doesn’t get to know the real Ada—we are told what she may have felt at different points, or what she went through, but there lacks a direct connection—perhaps extracts from her writings (here I’m not really sure what is available) or letters might have helped give one that feeling of hearing from her rather than about her. Also, another minor issue that one finds at the start of the book is that a significant part (nearly 30 per cent) is devoted to the Byron family, Byron and Annabelle, which means (as some other reviewers also note), it takes some time to actually get to Ada and her story.

But on the whole, this is a nicely written and readable book, which helped me learn much about Ada Lovelace and her interesting, though complicated (and not always happy) life and achievements. I also rather liked that Adams’ resources range from works on Babbage and Lovelace; and Byron to the Little People Big Ideas volume on Ada!

3.75 stars rounded off

Ada Lovelace is regarded as the world's first computer programmer - never mind she was a female born in 1815. As the daughter of an educated, religious mother and Lord Byron the infamous poet, she seemed to truly exemplify her inherited biology, 'She had a fervent imagination, and it was this that when combined with her mathematical knowledge resulted in the notes and the Analytical Engine.' She even described her approach mathematical approach as 'poetical science'.

Beverly Adams's biography focuses on the woman behind the label 'Enchantress of Numbers.' By detailing the contextual background of her parents, resulting in Ada's peculiar upbringing, ill health, and suspected mental health issues. Throughout, Adams speculates on the meaning and consequences of events and behaviour in order to present a more robust picture of Ada the woman. To this end, only a small portion of the book focuses on Ada's mathematical comprehension which provided the basic framework of our modern computers.

'Ada Lovelace' is a very readable, short biography that helps us better understand the woman: her genetics, childhood isolation, quirks, and personality. I really enjoyed becoming better acquainted with this eccentric woman and was left wondering what she may have further achieved if she'd lived a longer life. I think anyone who enjoys reading women's non fiction would enjoy reading this book.

The author states in the introduction that she is a huge Lord Byron fan and this is quite evident throughout the book. The first 20 % of the book is a history of the Byron family in general and Lord Byron in particular, whilst some background on the Byron family is useful (particularly in reference to the 'Byron Curse'), it feels a bit too much. Ada's entire life was dominated by her mother making sure she didn't take after Lord Byron, this biography feels dominated by Byron. The books title 'Ada Lovelace: The worlds first computer programmer' , her association with Charles Babbage and their work on the Analytical is confined to a couple of pages. I read this book because of it's title, so I was very disappointed on little of it was dedicated to her programming work. Retitle this book as 'Ada Lovelace: The Byron Curse' and it would be a 5 star review instead.

Beverley Adams’ book, Ada Lovelace : The World’s First Computer Programmer, is about one of the most advanced women of the nineteenth century. Ada, the daughter of the poet Byron, was brought up by her mother, Annabella. Annabella left Byron when Ada was only four weeks old and Ada never saw her father again. Annabella was determined that Ada should not be like Byron and ensured that her schooling emphasised mathematics and eschewed poetry.

Ada met Charles Babbage and saw a prototype of his Difference Engine in 1833, when she was 17. The Difference Engine was a calculator, designed to calculate and print navigation tables. However, Babbage had an idea for an even more complex machine, his Analytical Engine. This was what we would recognise as a general-purpose computer, able to tackle a much wider range of problems, as long as the solution could be articulated as a set of instructions. This is where Ada earned our modern recognition as the world’s first programmer.

A working version of Babbage’s Analytical Engine was never built, partly because he kept improving it and so what had been designed and costed was then abandoned and the costing had to start again. However, Ada was able to write her algorithms without requiring a physical machine upon which to implement them. The algorithms had If…Then…Else logic and Do…Until loops. They were definitely what we would recognise as program designs. I cannot begin to express how inventive this was – no-one else had ever written instructions to solve a problem in this way. Even Babbage had not conceived of using the Analytical Engine in the ways that Ada thought of. I’m a 64-year-old bloke who’s worked with computers since 1978 and Ada is one of the greatest people in the development of computer science – not greatest women, greatest people.

Does this book do her justice? No, I’m afraid not. Adams says she was one of “the age’s most influential women.” She was emphatically important for posterity, but who did she influence at the time? She “lived in an age that was on the very cusp of a technological revolution” – I’d dispute the “cusp” – the Industrial Revolution had started decades earlier and was well underway by Ada’s birth in 1815. I wouldn’t describe her as one of the world’s most respected mathematicians – her uniqueness was not her mathematical ability but the way in which she could write algorithms that could have been turned into programs if the computer had been built. Unfortunately, Adams doesn’t show us how Ada’s work was so ground-breaking.

This is not an academic book; stating that Byron had “a lot going on in his head” and that “he had issues” is lapsing into modern teenage argot. There is a lot of speculation about how Annabella, Ada and others felt and, in my opinion, a lot of padding and repetition. Adams admits at one point, “Of course, this is all subjective.” She states that William King, later 1st Earl of Loveless, Ada’s husband, was isolated from his siblings by his mother (at the age of 28!) but there is no reference for that allegation. Ada visited Byron’s former home and “her emotions were soon aware of a sense of loss.” How do we know how everyone felt? Where has that tale about William’s isolation originated? The bibliography has no books published before 2003 – is the book really based purely upon other modern secondary sources?
Ada, Countess of Loveless, was a very great woman and deserves to be celebrated and better known. However, I don’t think this book explains why – it simply keeps telling us that she was very good at mathematics. It tends to jump backwards and forwards in time without really being thematic.
#AdaLovelace #NetGalley

I was happy to find some light reading on Ada Lovelace and was curious to find out more about her. This is the perfect place to start if you want to find out more about this remarkable woman.

I did not like this book at all. It read more like a gossip column than a serious biography. It took a long time to get to Ada Lovelace. There were too many peripheral characters introduced. There was too much speculation on peoples’ motivations. I didn’t like the style of the book popping out questions repeatedly and offering speculative answers. Thank you to Netgalley and Pen & Sword History for the digital review copy.