As part of the BBC’s educational output during lockdown, Dr Hannah Fry’s 2015 documentary “Calculating Ada: The Countess of Computing” was repeated on BBC2 this week. The programme is part biography, part history , plus a dash of mathematics, and the narrative structure follows Ada, Countess of Lovelace’s life, from her childhood to her death and beyond, to her enduring legacy.
One thing I particularly enjoyed about this documentary is that it is narrated by a female presenter. Dr Fry is a distinguished mathematician and is well-placed to present Ada Lovelace as a rounded person in her own right. This may sound obvious, but female pioneers from the Victorian era are often presented through a patriarchal lens which presents achievements of women as so exceptional that they somehow become less exceptional than those of men. Dr Fry rejects this approach entirely and steers a clear path away from sensationalising Ada’s life and background.
For those familiar with the history of the woman who wrote the the world’s first computer program, all the main ingredients are here: the childhood influenced by being the daughter of Lord Byron, the extensive study of mathematics and science combined with an imaginative creative spirit, the encounter with Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine, and the writing of the extensive notes about the potential of Babbage’s Analytical Engine. All these are brought to life with visits to some key locations combined with Dr Fry’s genuine admiration for Ada’s achievements.
The location visits were some of my favourite part of the documentary. It was fascinating to see Tilly Blyth operate the Difference Engine at the Science Museum, and watch the symmetrical beauty of the actions of the mechanics. The detail in filming a Jacquard Loom at a museum in Macclesfield clearly explained how the punch cards programmed the action of the loom to create patterns in silk material. I’d heard about both of these machines before when reading about the history of computing, but this was the first time I really felt I understood how they contributed to the developments in writing computer programs.
My only disappointment was the segment which covered Ada’s last resting place. Ada is buried in St Mary Magdalene Church in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. Unlike the other locations, this chuch was not mentioned or captioned, and was merely mentioned as somewhere “miles away”. There may have been production reasons for this, but I felt a sense of dismay that the East Midlands connection only 11 miles from where I live was not given any prominence.
The programme covered lesser known aspects of Ada’s life too, such as her unsuccessful turn towards gambling on horse races as a means to raise funds to build the Analytical Engine. A scene at Epsom racecourse showed Dr Fry’s quick mind in action as she calculated the return on a £5 at 8/11 odds (if you’re wondering, it’s £3.64) at lightning speed. She was accompanied on her visit by Benjamin Woolley, author of The Bride of Science, a biography of Ada Lovelace which takes a more melodramatic stance about the Countess’s life.
At the end of the programme, I was left to speculate about the enduring legacy of Ada, Countess of Lovelace and her ability to envision computers as tools for music, art and creativity as well as mathematics, logic and problem-solving. To truly become a subject for everyone, computing education must embrace both sides of its possibilities and fulfil Ada’s prophecies.
CSEd PhD 