Abstract
Ada Lovelace’s extension of Charles Babbage’s work on the “Analytical Engine”, though thoroughly documented, has spawned a mythology all its own. Babbage’s plans to build a machine that would perform complex numerical functions attracted the attention of mathematicians including Luigi Frederico Menabrea, whose paper was translated by Lovelace from the French to English and published in 1843. Her notes, numbering at around 20,000 words, was three times the length of Menabrea’s paper. Lovelace’s composition of Note G, along with her understanding of AI’s potential applications and limitations, marks her status as the mother of computing and she has become an AI “cultural icon.” The visibility of Ada Lovelace the Icon has grown along with efforts to increase enfranchisement of women and girls in STEM fields. As STEM fields grapple with questions of gender equality among their stakeholders, a critical examination of representations of Lovelace will contribute significantly to a number of disciplinary conversations. This paper spotlights her iconic legacy in fictional worlds. Emphases include representations of Lovelace in fiction from the novel The Difference Engine (1990) and the play Arcadia (1993) to the graphic novel Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (2015) and the television series Doctor Who. We witness repeatedly how the character is given full voice and agency. Lovelace compellingly leapt from historical obscurity to an iconic image for women in STEM fields, and that rapid evolution is as much credit to her groundbreaking work as to the women who wish to follow in her footsteps.
Presenters
Robin HammermanTeaching Associate Professor, College of Arts and Letters, Stevens Institute of Technology, New Jersey, United States Anthony Pennino
Associate Professor of Literature, College of Arts and Letters, Stevens Instittute of Technology, New Jersey, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Ada Lovelace, STEM, Literature, Fiction, Popular Culture
