From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: *** X-Spam-Status: No, score=3.4 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_50,INVALID_DATE, MSGID_SHORT,REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!husc6!ut-sally!godzilla!hitchens From: hitchens@godzilla.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.c,sci.space,sci.space.shuttle Subject: Re: "C" vrs ADA Message-ID: <8824@ut-sally.UUCP> Date: Fri, 21-Aug-87 22:44:50 EDT Article-I.D.: ut-sally.8824 Posted: Fri Aug 21 22:44:50 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 23-Aug-87 06:26:07 EDT References: <1065@vu-vlsi.UUCP> <253@etn-rad.UUCP> <1573@sol.ARPA> Sender: news@ut-sally.UUCP Reply-To: hitchens@godzilla.cs.utexas.edu (Ron Hitchens, Guru Emeritus) Distribution: na Organization: The PCAM Institute for the Preservation of Historical Footnotes Keywords: Any suggestions? Xref: linus comp.lang.ada:523 comp.lang.c:3695 sci.space:2548 sci.space.shuttle:263 List-Id: In article <1573@sol.ARPA> crowl@cs.rochester.edu (Lawrence Crowl) writes: [lots of other stuff deleted] >Ada Augusta Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, was an associate of Babbage. I >do not remember reading anything that indicated she was his mistress. Charles >Babbage DID NOT invent the punched card driven loom, it was invented by Jaquard >in the 1700's. The loom was not the first computer. The first computer was >(arguably) Babbage's Analytic Engine, which was never built. The machine was >driven by cards, but since it was never built, I doubt Ada ever punched a card. >She did write programs (on paper) for the machine. Ada Lovelace was the first >programmer, so it is reasonable to name a programming language after her. > Lawrence Crowl 716-275-8479 University of Rochester > crowl@cs.rochester.arpa Computer Science Department > ...!{allegra,decvax,seismo}!rochester!crowl Rochester, New York, 14627 Ada Lovelace was quite a remarkable person. She was a world-class mathematician and produced a significant body of work. It's remarkable that she did this at a time when women weren't exactly welcome in the sciences, but it becomes amazing when you learn that she suffered from very poor health, enduring severe and nearly continuous migrain headaches. I believe she died fairly young (mid-30s I think) because of her poor health. As for whether she was Babbage's mistress, I don't know, and what does it really matter? Being the daughter of Lord Byron, it's probably inevitable that people of the day would think so, whether it was true or not. In any case, Ada Lovelace is worthy of recognition for her professional life regardless of what she did in her personal life. Ron Hitchens hitchens@godzilla.cs.utexas.edu Another one of those hitchens@sally.utexas.edu annoying consultants hitchens@ut-sally.uucp "I spilled Spot remover on my dog. Now he's gone." -Steven Wright