Ada's Algorithm: How Lord Byron's Daughter Launched the Digital Age Through the Poetry of Numbers

Real-life story of a woman's struggle to have her revolutionary ideas heard in a male-dominated 19th Century Britain.

Originally published in 2015, this is an updated edition with new material.

Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the dangerous romantic poet whose name was a byword for scandal. Over the past decades, Ada Lovelace herself has become a surprise underground star for digital pioneers all over the world, starting with Alan Turing, but also for female scientists in general. Ada’s Algorithm tells the story of Ada Lovelace’s turbulent private life as the poet's daughter and her exceptional achievement. It traces how her scientific peers failed to recognize the extraordinary breakthrough she made in the middle of the 19th century. If they had, the computer age could have started almost two centuries ago.

 Today her fame continues to grow and may soon rival her father's, a tribute to her singular determination and inspiring personality.

James Essinger's previous book was chosen as one of the top 5 popular science books of the year by the Economist. He studied at the University of Oxford (Lincoln College) and is a writer with a particular interest in ideas that have had a practical impact on the modern world.