Ada Lovelace tea towel

It all started with Charles Babbage's 'Analytical Engine' in the early 19th century. This inventor's machine would have become one of the first machines that could properly be called a computer... "Would have", if he had ever actually succceeded in building it, that is. In the meantime, along came Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the outrageously Romantic poet Lord Byron. Her mother had hastily encouraged her daughter in the field of mathematics, fearful otherwise that she might end up lost in the world of romantic poetry, like her father.

Whilst Babbage had only conceived of his engine as a mere calculator, Lovelace realised it could have the capacity to carry out complex operations and symbol manipulation. Collaborating closely with Babbage, she meticulously documented her visionary ideas in her influential Notes, which introduce the concept of a loop, a foundational element of modern programming.

Lovelace's legacy stands as a reminder of the transformative power of a visionary mind and the equal contribution of women to scientific endeavour.