Calculating Ada-The Countess Of Computing

Episode
Calculating Ada - The Countess Of Computing
Broadcast Info
2016 (59 mins)
Description
In August 1843 a brilliant young countess, Ada Lovelace, approached an irascible inventor to offer her help to secure funding for the world’s first mechanical computer. She alone had grasped the full implications of such a machine and had even written the first computer program for it. But the inventor, Charles Babbage, refused. Had Ada succeeded, the information technology revolution could have begun in Victorian Britain. She’d have ushered in the computer age a whole century earlier.
This is her remarkable story ...
This documentary reveals the extraordinary life of Lady Ada Lovelace. Daughter of notorious poet Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace was a countess of the realm, a scandalous socialite and a Countess of Computing. We explore her eccentric upbringing, her engrossing relationship with Charles Babbage, and her legacy as the world’s first computer programmer. We will uncover how Ada’s unique inheritance - visionary imagination and rational logic - made her the prophet for our digital age.
Using a rich archive of original manuscripts, a working version of the machine, and interviews with expert contributors we will discover how Lady Ada Lovelace was an unsung genius of British science. Visually the film will draw upon the extraordinary animations of artist Sven Werner. He is a follower of "steam punk", an artistic and literary movement that has been inspired by Ada Lovelace and the idea of Victorian computers.
Genre
History; Science; Technology; Computing
You are here: Search results (390)  >  Commentary - Utd V City  >  Commentary - Talking Point - End the Strikes  >  Commentary - Torquay V Huddersfield  >  Commentary - World News Highlights: Medal for MP  >  Commentary - London Royal Caribbean Journey Begins  >  Commentary - World News Highlights: Japan’s First Jet Plane  >  Commentary - News Flashes  >  Commentary - FA Cup Fourth Round  >  Hayes on Sunday  >  Westminster Council homes for votes inquiry  >  Commentary - Holiday News Flashes: Herne Hill Cycle Meet  >  Stun gun attack on student  >  Commentary - Varsity Rugby Match  >  Ross Perot in presidential race  >  James Goldsmith complaint - Press Council decision  >  Anthony Burgess on autobiography, work and life  >  Possible Government defeat over Maastricht Treaty Bill  >  Plans for new conference building in London  >  ICI profits  >  Empty houses squatted  >  Penlee lifeboat disaster reconstruction  >  Margaret Thatcher visits ICI factory  >  Mercury cuts jobs  >  Hugh Jenkins on London airports  >  Prince Charles on the youth of today  >  Noraid demonstration in New York  >  Our kind of town  >  City week  >  Teachers dispute over assessment and testing  >  Brecon Beacons Scout rescue  >  Jean-Marie Le Pen invite from Tory  >  Chancellor Howe on economic recovery  >  Murder of Lenore Gilbey - Lawrence Foye charged  >  White collar workers training scheme  >  Reagan’s controversial war cemetery visit  >  Decision makers  >  Wedding party snowed in  >  Businessman attempts to break flight record  >  Report on Peter Chimilovski, rapist  >  Education policy demonstration  >  Bethnal Green Hospital changes  >  Brecon Beacons Scout rescue  >  Margaret Thatcher on Bonn summit  >  Safety improvements after Marchioness disaster  >  Boy scout on record camping attempt  >  Loch Ness monster expedition  >  Front National rally  >  Kampuchean refugee special  >  Norman Tebbit on Le Pen visit  >  Irish Americans to protest during Queen’s visit  >  Salvation Army Blitz appeal  >  Obituary of John Lennon  >  Ronald Reagan at 40th anniversary of UN General Assembly  >  Youth unemployment  >  Copyright case over A Clockwork Orange  >  Three more pits to close  >  Steve Jones show  >  Ruling on teachers’ boycott of school tests  >  Channel tunnel to go ahead - Dover Chamber of Commerce view  >  Prince Charles visits Toxteth  >  Lebanese conflict - Israeli view  >  Le Pen won’t speak to Tories  >  Norman Lamont’s Mansion House Speech - Reaction  >  The Music Of Time  >  London pub fire leaves two dead  >  Margaret Thatcher at 40th anniversary of UN General Assembly  >  Inside Our Autistic Minds  >  Genius of the Modern World  >  Scout Movement - 75th anniversary  >  Genius of the Modern World  >  The Secret Life of Children’s Books  >  Shakespeare Live  >  The Fifteen Billion Pound Railway-The Final Countdown  >  25th International Playwriting Competition  >  Andrew Marr’s Paperback Heroes  >  Calculating Ada-The Countess Of Computing

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Calculating Ada-The Countess Of Computing". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/219510 (Accessed 24 Nov 2025)