Background Info: Born on December 10, 1815, Ada Lovelance was the only legitimate child of the famous poet Lord George Gordon Byron. She died November 27, 1852. Ada Lovelance was privately tutored and then self-educated for most of her education. But for advanced studies she was aided by mathematician-logician Augustus De Morgon, the first mathematics professor at University of London.
Contributuions/Accomplishments: She was known as the first computer programmer and is honored every year on the second Tuesday of October for her contributions in fields of technology, engineering, and mathematics. She created the first paper-based machine algoritm for Charles Babbage's prototype of the digital computer. She was is also considered to be the first person to recognize that computers had a larger potential than what reached the eye.
Fun Fact: Strangely, in her childhood Ada was forced to stay completely still for an extended amount of time, because her mother believed it would help her develop self-control.
Background Info:Charles Babbage was born December 26th ,1791 in London to a banker. He died October 18th,1871 at the age of 79. Because of his poor health since the age of 8 years old, he received private tuition. At a young age, Babbage became his own instructor in algebra, which he was passionate towards. Upon entering Trinity College, Cambridge in 1811, he found himself ahead of his own tutors in math. In his twenties Charles Babbage worked as a mathematician, specifically in the calculus of functions.
Contributuions/Accomplishments:Babbage co-founded the Analytical Society for promoting continental mathematics and reforming the mathematics of. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1816 and played a prominent part in the foundation of the Astronomical Society in 1820. Above all his achievements, his biggest one is the invention of the Difference Engine. In 1821 Babbage invented the Difference Engine to compile mathematical tables. On completing it in 1832, he got the idea of a better machine that could perform not just one mathematical task, but any kind of calculation. This was the Analytical Engine, which had some of the characteristics of today’s computers.
Background Info:Hedy Lamarr is a Austrian born American actor and inventer. Lamarr was born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in 1914 in Vienna. As a child, Lamarr showed an interest in acting and was fascinated by theatre and film. She also began to associate invention with her father, who would take her out on walks, explaining how technology functioned. She was a small time actor untill she made her breakthrough on the show Ecstasy.
Contributuions/Accomplishments: She was a top actor and preformed in the Golden Age's of Hollywood, along stars Spencer Tracy and Jimmy Stewart. At the beginning of World War II she so-invented a radio system for Allied torpedos that used spread spectrum and frequancy hopping technology. Her invention ultimately lead to the discovery of the internet.
