This is the 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.

Over 150 years after the death of Ada Lovelace, a widely-used scientific computer program was named “Ada”. Lovelace, considered the first programmer in history, wrote extensive notes about the machine, including an algorithm to compute a long sequence of Bernoulli numbers, which some observers now consider to be the world’s first computer program. Despite opposition that the principles of science were “beyond the strength of a woman’s physical power of application.”

Based on ten years of research and filled with fascinating characters and observations of the period, not to mention numerous illustrations, Essinger tells Ada’s fascinating story in unprecedented detail to absorbing and inspiring effect.

Ada’s Algorithm : How Lord Byron’s Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age. James Essinger. London: Gibson Square, 2022.