Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace is best known for her early contributions to the field of computing. A friend and devotee of Charles Babbage, she published detailed descriptions of his calculating machines. Byron is credited with having written the world's first computer program, a set of instructions for Babbage's Analytical Engine. She was a visionary who speculated on how calculating machines might someday be put to practical use.

Byron was born in London, December 10, 1815, to an aristocratic family. Named Augusta Ada Byron, she was the only legitimate daughter of George Gordon, Lord Byron, the English poet. Her mother, Lady Byron, was born Anne Isabella Milbanke, a wealthy intellectual and eccentric, who had been tutored in mathematics. According to historians, Lord Byron was unprepared for the commitments of marriage and fatherhood. In the hours before his daughter's birth he threw furniture around the room. When Ada Byron...