Today is Ada Lovelace Day; an International annual event to celebrate the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Her day is a great day to celebrate the inspirational women currently working in #STEM and increasing their visibility so they can inspire a future generation.
“Who is Ada Lovelace?” you might be asking. And why does she have a day?
Ada Lovelace was a British mathematician and writer in the 1800s, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine.
Her notes on the engine include what is recognized as the first algorithm intended to be carried out by a machine. Because of this, she is considered as the first computer programmer.
According to the official Ada Lovelace Day page the reason today is chosen to be Ada Lovelace Day is rather boring yet entirely pragmatic;
“Why October 13?
People often ask why Ada Lovelace Day is the day that it is. The explanation is rather mundane: the date is arbitrary, chosen in an attempt to make the day maximally convenient for the most number of people. We have tried to avoid major public holidays, school holidays, exam season, and times of the year when people might be hibernating.
So, we use the second Tuesday in October, which is 13 October 2015.
Why not just used Ada’s birthday? Well, Ada was born on December 10 and in the UK where Ada Lovelace Day is based, December is swamped by Christmas parties, making venue hire tricky and putting us in competition with traditionally un-missable employee booze-ups. Given her tragically early death at just 36, it would feel inappropriate to celebrate her deathday on 27 November.”
So in the spirit for which Ada Lovelace Day is intended we would also like to highlight a couple of women who are changing science, technology, engineering and math today.
Great architect:
Check out some of the mesmerizing, neo-futuristic architecture and design of one of the greatest living architects Zaha Hadid.
Great engineer: “Maker of things- notably Mars Rovers. Past IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year. Space Geek, Engineering Evangelist”
