Ada Lovelace: A Pioneer in Computing

Introduction

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, is widely regarded as the first computer programmer. Born in London in 1815, she was the daughter of famous poet Lord Byron and his wife Lady Byron. Ada Lovelace is known for her work on Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, which was designed to be the first general-purpose computer.

Early Life and Education

Ada Lovelace's mother, Lady Byron, was determined to keep Ada away from the influence of her father, who was infamous for his scandalous lifestyle. As a result, Ada received a rigorous education in mathematics and science from an early age. She was tutored by some of the most prominent scientists and mathematicians of her time, including Mary Somerville and Augustus De Morgan. She was fascinated by the workings of the Difference Engine, a mechanical calculator designed by Charles Babbage, and spent many hours studying it.

Collaborating with Charles Babbage

Ada Lovelace met Charles Babbage when she was 17 years old and became interested in his work on the Difference Engine. She became his protégé and worked closely with him on his new invention, the Analytical Engine. Babbage designed the machine to be a general-purpose computer, capable of performing any kind of calculation. Ada recognized the potential of the machine and became interested in developing its programming.

Ada Lovelace's Contribution to Computing

Ada Lovelace wrote a set of notes on the Analytical Engine that included an algorithm for computing Bernoulli numbers. This algorithm is now recognized as the first computer program. Ada's notes also included a discussion of the potential of the Analytical Engine, which she recognized could be used for more than just number crunching. She wrote:

"The analytical engine has no pretensions to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can follow analysis, but it has no power of anticipating any analytical relations or truths."

This insight is now recognized as a seminal idea in the field of computing, as it suggests that computers can be used for more than just number crunching.

Legacy and Impact

Ada Lovelace's contributions to the field of computing were largely overlooked during her lifetime, as the Analytical Engine was never completed and her notes were not widely circulated. However, her work was rediscovered in the mid-20th century, and she is now recognized as a pioneer in the field of computing. In honor of her legacy, the US Department of Defense named a programming language "Ada" after her in 1980. Ada Lovelace Day, which is celebrated on the second Tuesday in October, is dedicated to recognizing the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, and math.

Conclusion

Ada Lovelace was a pioneer in the field of computing, and her legacy continues to inspire future generations of scientists and technologists. Her work on the Analytical Engine laid the foundation for modern computing, and her insights into the potential of computers to do more than just number crunching continue to shape the way we think about technology today. Ada Lovelace's contributions to computing serve as a testament to her brilliance and creativity and remain a source of inspiration to all those who seek to break down barriers and make their mark on the world.

Mary Kom - Women Legend Today

Mary Kom Biography Education Achievements, Mary Kom Career High Lights Achievements

Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, ( born 1st March, 1983 ), also known as MC Mary Kom, Magnificent Mary or simply Mary Kom, is an Indian boxer belonging to Kom tribal community of north-eastern state of Manipur. 

Nick Name : Magnificent Mary (Mary Kom)

Born :01 Mar,1983

Location :Bishnupur, Manipur, India

Website : http://mcmarykom.com/

She is a five-time World Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. She is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight ( 51 kg ) category and winning the bronze medal. She has also been ranked as No. 4 AIBA World Women’s Ranking Flyweight category Mary Kom was born in Kangathei, in Churachanpur district of Manipur. Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom, worked in jhum fields. 

Mary Kom Education:

1. Loktak Christian Model High School, Moirang up to class VI.
2. St. Xavier Catholic School, Moirang up to class VIII.
3. Adimjati High School, Imphal for class IX and X.
4. Churachandpur College for graduation.

She completed her primary education from Loktak Christian Model High School, Moirang, up to her class VI standard and attended St. Xavier Catholic School, Moirang, up to class VIII. She then moved to Adimjati High School, Imphal, for her schooling for class IX and X, but could not pass her exam. She did not want to reappear for her exams so she quit her school and gave her examination from NIOS, Imphal and graduation from Churachandpur College.

Magnificent Mary - Mary Kom

Mary Kom, a Magnificent Mary of India, is a most prominent Indian boxer who has won five-time World Boxing championship and only Indian woman boxer who won a medal for each of the world championships. She ranks No. 4 AIBA World Women’s Ranking for the Flyweight category. She reached to this success in her by facing a lot of struggles came in front of her. As she belongs to the simple community, she has to face a lot for getting such big achievements. A biopic movie on her career has been confirmed by the Sanjay Leela Bhansali which is being starring by the Priyanka Chopra.

Mary Kom Career Highlights:

• Her first career win came in 2000 when she won the Best Boxer Award at the First State Level Invitation at the women’s boxing championship in Manipur. After that she proceeded to win the gold in the Seventh East India Women’s Boxing Championship held in West Bengal.
• A prolific sportswoman who demonstrated a relentless passion for the game, she won a total of five National Championships from 2000 to 2005.
• Between 2001 and 2006, she won the AIBA world boxing championship thrice in 2002, 2005 and 2006, and came second in 2001.
• In 2008, she participated at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in India where she won a silver medal. The same year she boxed at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championship in China where she earned the Gold medal—her fourth successive gold medal at the championship.
• The coming years were also very productive for the gritty young lady. She went to Vietnam from where she returned with a gold medal at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games.
• In Kazakhstan Mary won the gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in 2010. Then she proceeded to Barbados to register a career milestone—her fifth consecutive gold at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship.
• A petite woman, she competed in the 51 kg class in the 2010 Asian Games and won a bronze medal. Again at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championship in Mongolia in 2012 she participated in the same weight category and won the gold.
• In 2012, women’s boxing featured as an Olympic sport in the Summer Olympics in London for the first time. Mary did succeed in securing a place at the events and won a bronze medal.
• In 2014 Asian Games, held in Incheon, South Korea, she won a Gold Medal in Flyweight category.
• She is the only Indian female boxer to qualify for, and win a medal in the Olympics.
• Mary is the only female boxer to win a medal in six consecutive world championships.
• She is the first Indian woman boxer to win a gold medal in the Asian Games.
• She, along with Sanjay and Harshit Jain, bore the Queen's Baton in the opening ceremony run in the stadium for the 2010 Commonwealth Games of Delhi.
• Mary Kom is the first amateur athlete to win the Padma Bhushan.
• She is the first amateur to surpass several professional athletes in India in earnings, endorsements and awards.

Mary Kom Achievements

Mary Kom is an Indian woman boxer with an Olympic medal. Her full name is  Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom. She born on 01/03/1983. Mary is not one but 5-time champion of World Amateur Boxing. She owns the record of being the single and only woman to earn a medal in 6 world championships. She won a bronze medal in London Olympics 2012. In the flyweight category of World Rankings – AIBA, she stood at 4th position. Apart from boxing, she loves martial arts too. She is Padma Bhushan awardee and was very much inspired by another Padma Bhushan Awardee Asian games medalist in Boxing – Dingko Singh of Manipur. She has won uncountable awards till date.

May Kom International Achievements:

2001-Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships

2002-Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships

2002-Witch Cup

2003-Asian Women's Championships

2004-Women's World Cup

2005-Asian Women's Championships

2005-Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships

2006-Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships

2006-Venus Women's Box Cup

2008-Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships

2008-Guwahati, India

2009-Asian Indoor Games

2010-Women's World Amateur Boxing Championships

2010-Asian Women's Championships

2010-Asian Games

2011-Asian Women's Cup

2012-Asian Women's Championships

2012-Summer Olympics

2014-Asian Games

Mary Kom National Achievements :

Gold – 1st Women Nat. Boxing Championship, Chennai 6–12.2.2001

The East Open Boxing Champ, Bengal 11–14.12.2001

2nd Sr World Women Boxing Championship, New Delhi 26–30.12.2001

National Women Sort Meet, N. Delhi 26–30.12.2001

32nd National Games, Hyderabad 2002

3rd Sr World Women Boxing Champ, Aizawl 4–8.3.2003

4th Sr WWBC, Kokrajar, Assam 24–28.2.2004

5th Sr WWBC, Kerala 26–30.12.2004

6th Sr WWBC, Jamshedpur 29 November-3.12.2005

10th WNBC, Jamshedpur lost QF by 1–4 on 5.10.2009

May Kom Awards and Recognition:

In 2015, Mary Kom became the first amateur to surpass several professional athletes in India in earnings, endorsements and awards. She is the first amateur athlete to win the Padma Bhushan

Padma Bhushan (Sports), 2013

Arjuna Award (Boxing), 2003

Padma Shree (Sports), 2006

Contender for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 2007

People of the Year- Limca Book of Records, 2007

CNN-IBN & Reliance Industries' Real Heroes Award 14.4. 2008 Mon

Pepsi MTV Youth Icon 2008

‘Magnificent Mary’, AIBA 2008

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, 2009

International Boxing Association's Ambassador for Women's Boxing 2009 (TSE 30 July 2009 Thur)

Sportswoman of the year 2010, Sahara Sports Award

Mary Kom For the Bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics

50 lakh (US$75,000) cash award from the Rajasthan Government.

50 lakh (US$75,000) cash award and two acres of land from the Manipur Government.

20 lakh (US$30,000) cash award from the Assam Government.

10 lakh (US$15,000) cash award from the Arunachal Pradesh Government.

10 lakh (US$15,000) cash award from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (India).

40 lakh (US$60,000) cash award from the North Eastern Council.

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Women Legends - First Indian Woman to Climb Mount Everest

first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest

Bachendri Pal is the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. She achieved this feat on 23rd May 1984. Bachendri Pal was part of the fourth expedition, named Everest 84. She was one of the members of the elite group of six Indian women and eleven men who were part of the group. Bachendri Pal was the only woman in the group to reach the summit.

Bachendri Pal was born in 1954 in Nakuri village, Garhwal. Her first exposure to mountaineering was at the age of 12, when during a picnic she along with several schoolmates climbed a 13,123 feet high peak. After completing her studies, she joined the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM). In 1982, while at NIM, she climbed Gangotri (21,900 ft) and Rudugaria (19,091 ft). In 1985, Bachendri Pal led an Indo-Nepalese Everest Expedition team comprising of only women. The expedition created seven world records and set benchmarks for Indian mountaineering.

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Woman Legend - First Women Climbers of Everest, K2, Nanga Parbat

Woman Legend - First Women Climbers of Everest, K2, Nanga Parbat

Everesters Bachendri Pal and Santosh Yadav in Delhi - on the eve of their departure for the 1993 Everest expedition.

No woman from South Asia has climbed the K2 or Nanga Parbat. The first woman Everest climber was Junko Tabei [1975], a Japanese student & mother, who wrote two books called “Everest Mama-san” & “Yama-o-tanoshimu – Enjoying Mountains” both in Japanese. She prefers to be known as: "I'm a free spirit. Call me the free spirit of the mountains.” Her comments on climbing are understated:

"I can't understand why men make all this fuss about Everest — it's only a mountain."

"Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top — it is the will power that is the most important. This will power you cannot buy with money or be given by others — it rises from your heart."

“The mountain teaches me a lot of things. It makes me realize how trivial my personal problems are,"

In the last fifty years, more than 75 women have climbed the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest. Of these, only five have ever climbed the summit of K2 since 1954 and have since died. Three women - Wanda Rutkiewicz of Poland, Julie Tullis of Britain, and Liliane Barrard of France – were the first three women to stand on the summit. Unfortunately, Julie and Liliane died on the descent. All three were climbing without extra oxygen. Julie Tullis, from Britain, was a black belt in Karate, a teacher, a mother, and an award winning filmmaker. She died of exposure descending K2 in 1986. Only twelve women have ascended Nanga Parbat in the last 50 years. Of them, two were climbers of K2: Wanda Rutkeiwicz from Poland and Liliane Barrard from France. Liliane was the first woman to summit Nanga Parbat in 1984.

Superwomen Climbers :

Typically women have had to face resistance and male chauvinism from men’s climbing expeditions in one form or the other. Of the women climbers, the leader is undoubtedly Wanda Rutkiewicz.

Wanda Rutkiewicz , [ 1943-1992] from Poland, climbed eight of the 8000meters peaks , graduated with a master's degrees in science and in electronic engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Wroclaw. At eighteen years of age, she started climbing in the domestic Tatra mountains. Later she started climbing the Alps and the Norwegian mountains. Climbing in entirely all female teams , she went on to climb the East Pillar of Trollryggen in Norway (1968), the North Pillar of the Eiger (Messner route, 1973) and the North Face of the Matterhorn in winter (first women-only-ascent, 1978). She died in 1992 on Kanchenchunga near the summit. On 12 May she was last seen some 300 m short of the top. She was also a writer and photographer. She wrote 2 books, and dozens of articles and reports. During the last 10 years of her life she put in a lot of time / energy to film making- films on Aconcagua's South Face Gdybyś przyszedł pod tę ścianę, on K2 Requiem, on Cerro Torre, on Nanga Parbat, on Gasherbrum II and on the people of the Baltoro region Ludzie na Baltoro. She was into ecological aspects of mountain areas. She read in 1983 in Delhi a widely discussed paper on Women Mountaineers in the Himalayas and was a founding trustee of the Mountain Wilderness organization. She died climbing Kanchenchunga. See Wielicki comments on her strong nature/personality.
Rutkiewicz was a most forceful, determined person and lady-mountaineer. She received the prestigious Sitara-e Imtiaz (Star of Distinction) award of Pakistan. Posthumously she got the King Albert Medal of Merit

Christine Boskoff [B.S. in Electrical Engineering , Wisconsin University, bought “Mountain Madness” adventure company after Scott Fischer died in a 1996 avalanche ; Mountain Madness in 2002 had revenue of $400,000 last year and has averaged about 150 expeditions per year]. She has six of the 8000 meters peaks to her credit and is very much influenced by the Polish women climber Wanda Rutkiewicz :

"…Wanda was a huge influence to me. Unfortunately there really hasn't been anyone after her “ …to influence me,”…."She played a huge part in establishing a place for women in the high-altitude mountaineering world.

Chantal Mauduit of France [ died May 1998 on Nepal's Dhaulagiri plus Sherpa companion Tshering, was found in a tent at camp 3 ] has 6 peaks of 8000 meters .

Edurne Pasaban of Spain/Basque – climbed six of the 8000 meters Peaks. Mount Everest (8848m) 2001, Makalu (8485m) 2002, Cho Oyu (8188m) 2002, Lhotse (8516) 2003 Gasherbrum II (8034m) 2003 and Gasherbrum I (8080m) 2003

Italy’s – Mama-Mia Climbers :

July 2003 - Alessandra Canesti of Italy, two of the 8000 meters peaks.

July 2003 Miss Nives Meroy (Meroi) from Italy climbed five of the 8000 meters . Summited GI, GII, Broad Peak in 20 days. She has climbed three peaks (Nanga Parbat, Shishapangma, Cho_Oyu) between 1998-1999. She always climbs without artificial oxygen. She was born in Bergamo 42 years ago. "La signora Meroy" represents Italy’s Karakorams.



South Asian Women Climbers -- Devis:

Bachendri Pal was the first Indian woman on top of Everest [ worked for Tata Steel Corp. and later adopted five children of fellow Sherpa Climber who died and whose wife later died also],

[See this site for her interview: http://www.pbs.org/adventuredivas/india/divas/bpal.html] In the early ‘80s, she applied to the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, where she was tagged "Everest material." At number three of a family of five in a modest household near Nakuri, Uttarkashi in Uttaranchal State, she developed her muscles moving around in the Garhwal Himalayas.

Persisting with her education against parents wishes, she went on to get a Masters in Sanskrit. And later wrote her Everest journey in a book called "Everest: My Journey to the Top" that appeared in the book Leading Out. Facing the prospect of a forced arranged marriage, she got the National Adventure foundation into giving her a job to run an adventure training school for women and girls. In 1984 she finally made it to the Everest 84 expedition. After an avalanche that very nearly killed her and her climbing group at Camp 24,000 feet, she managed to reach Everest top on May 17, 1984, via the standard southeast ridge, becoming the first Indian woman on Everest. She currently runs a training camp at Tata Adventure Foundation, which has given support and produced about 32 Olympians, 9 World champions in different sports.


Santosh Yadav – The only woman in the world to climb Everest twice in two consecutive years -[12 May 1992, summer-1993]

Yadav climbed Everest twice in less than a year. She says that mountaineering fascinates her and comes naturally to her. She comes from a village in Rewari District of Rajasthan, where education for girls was denied. She eventually graduated from Maharani College, Jaipur in Economics. In 1986 she did advanced mountaineering courses from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, with `A' Grades. Yadav began in 1989, with a nine-nation international climbing camp-cum-expedition to Num-Kun area. Among the 31 members she was the only woman. She climbed Mount White Needle (21,700 ft). In 1990 she was a member of the Indo-Taiwanese Saser Kangri-I (25,000 ft) Expedition. After her feats in the mountains she Iwas appointed to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. In 1991, she was a member of the Indo-Japanese Kanchenchunga (East Route) Expedition, and was chosen to join the Indian Pre-Everest Expedition to Mt Kamet (25,447 ft). Later she climbed Mt AbiGanmin (24,130 ft) Peak.

In 1992, as a member of the Indian (ITBP) Mt Everest Expedition, she performed so well and went beyond base camp – Khumbu Ice- Falls [where about 25 % of Everest climbers have died]. Finally on May 12, 1992, she stood on the summit of Mount Everest with head constable Sange Sherpa and head constable Wangchuk Sherpa. She was on the summit for about an hour-and-a-half and because the fourth member Mohan Singh was in a bad state of health, she provided him with her oxygen.

She says that she “ felt great with mixed feelings of having achieved a feat of rare variety and being the youngest woman in the world to scale the Mount Everest (until 1993). I was also the first police officer to have achieved this distinction….”

Immediately after her Everest Expedition, she was the overall leader of the Indo-Japanese Women Expedition to scale a 22,764 ft high unscaled and unnamed peak in Garhwal Himalayas. The unnamed peak was named Mt Saraswati. In 1993, as the deputy leader of Indo-Nepalese Women's Everest Expedition, she became the first and only woman in the world to climb Mt Everest twice. On this climb Yadav narrated how she slept the night at camp 4 on the way to Mt. Everest, only to realize in the morning that she had been sleeping next to the dead body of a previous climber.

Later she climbed Mt Fujiyama , led an expedition to the Andes Mt. Acancagua in Argentina on January 28, 1998 – to commemorate 50 years of India's Independence. In March 1999, she led the ``Millennium Indian Everest (Kangshung Face) Expedition-1999'' and became the first Indian to lead successfully an expedition to Mount Everest from its most dangerous and nearly impossible route ``Kangshung Face''.

Married now and with a small baby boy, and no longer working on her police job, she now devotes herself for the promotion of mountaineering and also special pilgrimage tours to Kailash and Mansarovar.

At the age of 19, Dicky Dolma was at the time the youngest woman climber of Mt.Everest [May 10, 1993 ] with the Indo-Nepali expedition led by Bachendri Pal. She comes from Palchan village, a few miles above the tourist resort town of Manali in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh in India. In 1984 she started playing with homemade skis and later at Manali Skiing Institute, she completed skiing courses and basic mountaineering courses. Married now to a skiing man, she concentrates more on skiing than climbing.
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Women Legend - The first woman on the Moon

The first woman on the Moon
In reading the NASA bio of STS-114 commander Eileen Collins, it comes as no wonder she was chosen for the momentous return to flight of the space shuttle. I won’t repeat the long list of her accomplishments, special honors, and aircraft flight experience, but the short version is that she has logged over 6,300 hours in 30 different aircraft. She is a retired Air Force colonel, and when she wore the uniform, her decorations of ribbons, medals, and insignias was impressive. She was selected by NASA in 1990 and became an astronaut in 1991. She served in numerous capacities in support of orbiter crew operations, including spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM). She trained for and served as pilot on STS-63 in February 1995 and STS-84 in May 1997. She became the first female commander of a shuttle mission with STS-93 in July 1999. It has been a long dry spell, but Collins is back in space, again as commander of a shuttle mission.

Practically anyone can name the Mercury Seven, but the first seven American women in space is a question for a game show.
If NASA was currently flying missions to the Moon, no doubt the agency would select Collins to be the first woman on walk on the lunar surface. It doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon. 2015 is the earliest hoped-for return to the Moon by the United States within the new Vision for Space Exploration. Collins is 48, so run the math. She has been with the agency for 15 years, but that can’t hold a candle to John Young, who recently retired from NASA after 42 years with the agency. Would Collins like to place her boot on luna firma? No doubt she would. Does she want to wait ten-plus years to do so? Maybe someone should ask her. Two things are for certain: she won’t be alone, and there will be a first woman on the Moon. She is alive right now. She may have just joined the astronaut corps, or she may still be in college with plans to join the Air Force and perhaps dreaming of becoming an astronaut. Whoever it is, she will probably follow much the same path that Eileen Collins did.

The glass stratosphere
Women have tried to get into space ever since Project Mercury. That subject has been ably covered by Martha Ackmann in her book, The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight published in 2003. The subject of women in space was expanded in Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space written by Yale historian Bettyann Kevles, also published in 2003. Of course, no American woman flew during Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo; only the Soviets flew a single female cosmonaut and then for political advantage—read propaganda. It was the Cold War. NASA wouldn’t accept women applicants to the astronaut corps until 1978. The first American woman to fly into space aboard the space shuttle was Sally Ride in 1983, and the glass stratosphere was finally shattered. However, the names of the many women who followed aboard the space shuttle can only be learned through a search on the web. Practically anyone can name the Mercury Seven, but the first seven American women in space is a question for a game show. Sadly, these female pioneers of space are an enigma and virtually unknown today. Nevertheless, they paved the way, and that way now points to the Moon and eventually Mars.

“That’s one small step for a woman…”
The shuttle never achieved its lofty launch schedule promised early in the program. If it had, even more women could boast of having flown in space. Being an astronaut today is a waiting game. Many astronauts, both men and women, trained yet never flew. The unspoken belief among many in the space community is that we are witnessing the last of the shuttle flights right now, because if there is one more catastrophic failure of the orbiter, there will be no more flights. Michael Griffin is right to accelerate the timeline for the Crew Exploration Vehicle. With the infrastructure already in place at KSC, it comes as no surprise a shuttle-derived launch vehicle is the frontrunner for the CEV. That just may close the gap between the retiring shuttle fleet and the new CEV and its launch vehicle. Certainly, ten years is an achievable goal in landing American men and women on the Moon. What will the first woman on the Moon say as she steps down off the ladder to the lunar surface? We will just have to wait to find out.
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