Encountering Social Barriers
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Lovelace's social status facilitated her education, but much of this accessibility was negated by the social friction she encountered. Her education as a woman was frowned upon, and her scientific work was inevitably overlooked by the academic community.
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Wade 1994 [25]
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"[Her pioneering work] didn't mean that she was remembered. Her ideas weren't immediately adopted. The Victorian age might have been completely different. Some people say we might have had an Information Age, a steam powered Information Age in the Victorian era." -Meghan Gray, theoretical physicist from Sixty Symbols [11] |
Even now, a century later, her thorough knowledge of the Analytical Engine's programming capabilities is questioned.
Click images to read the stories of more scientists whose contributions were overlooked or diminished and who consequently perished from public consciousness like Lovelace.
All images and captions from Iqbal 2015 [27] and National Geographic 2013 [26].
Lasting Encounters Impact
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Despite the United Kingdom's Equal Pay Act of 1970 and Sex Discrimination Act of 1975, only 12.8% of the UK's STEM workforce is comprised of women [28]. However, Lovelace's accomplishments have been revived, and she, along with other female scientists and mathematicians, inspires women and girls in STEM careers today.
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Reshma Sayjani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code, discusses Girls Who Code mission. Time 33 secs [29]
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Eventbrite 2014
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"Ada Lovelace Edit-a-thon; annual event aimed at beefing up online stories for women in science whose accomplishments are unsung or misattributed.... When [Lovelace's] name is mentioned today, it's more than a tip of the hat; it's a call to arms." -Rachel Swaby, author of Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science--and the World [13] |