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世界上第一个程序猿竟然是个美女![Ada Lovelace Day]

2016-10-11 星星 沪江英语

说到程序猿,大部分人的刻板印象是:写代码、二进制、加班严重、赚钱多且没时间花、用脑过度容易掉头发,基本上是男的,很可能长这样↓



但你一定不知道,世界上第一个程序猿竟然是个女的↓ 还长这么美!!



Ada Lovelace has been called the world's first computer programmer.

阿达·洛芙莱斯(以下简称阿达)是公认的世界上第一位程序员。


后人用Ada的名字命名了一个纪念日

——Ada Lovelace Day


Ada Lovelace Day2016.10.11


First celebrated in 2009 (in March), Ada Lovelace Day is a day set aside to learn about women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

首次Ada Lovelace Day是在2009年三月,人们以此纪念日来赞扬那些对科学、技术、工程学和数学做出卓越贡献的女性。




阿达是谁:拜伦的女儿?!

Of course, someone had to be the first, but Lovelace was a woman, and this was in the 1840s.

当然,世界上总归要有人当第一个。但阿达可是个女人啊,而且还是一位早在1840年的女人。


How did a young woman get the opportunity to show the world her talents in the 19th century? Mathematical intelligence was not the only thing Ada Lovelace had going for her. Her potential for intelligence probably came genetically.

在19世纪这样一个古老的年代,一个年轻的女人是怎么有机会向全世界展示自己的才能的呢?她的数学天赋不仅仅是自身原因,她在智商方面的潜力很可能受遗传因素的影响。


她爹是英国著名诗人拜伦↓

左:阿达的父亲拜伦

右:阿达的母亲安娜贝拉


↓拜伦诗歌赏析↓

朗读者:雄叔

(文末可以联系他哟)


When we two parted

当初我们俩分别


In silence and tears,

只有沉默和眼泪,

Half broken-hearted

心儿几乎要碎裂,

To sever for years,

得分隔多少年岁!

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

你的脸发白发冷,

Colder thy kiss;

你的吻更是冰凉;

Truly that hour foretold

确实呵,那个时辰

Sorrow to this!

预告了今日的悲伤!

The dew of the morning

清晨滴落的露珠

Sunk chill on my brow—

浸入我眉头,好冷——

It felt like the warning

对我今天的感触

Of what I feel now.

仿佛是预先示警。

Thy vows are all broken,

你把盟誓都背弃,

And light is thy fame;

名声也轻浮浪荡;

I hear thy name spoken,

听别人把你说起,

And share in its shame.

连我也羞愧难当。

They name thee before me,

他们当着我说你,

A knell to mine ear;

像丧钟响彻耳旁;

A shudder comes o'er me—

我周身止不住战栗——

Why wert thou so dear?

对你怎这样情长?

They know not I knew thee,

他们不知我熟悉你——

Who knew thee too well:—

只怕是熟悉过度;

Long, long shall I rue thee,

我会久久惋惜你,

Too deeply to tell.

深切得难以陈诉。



In secret we met—

想当初幽期密约,

In silence I grieve,

到如今默默哀怨:

That thy heart could forget,

你的心儿会忘却,

Thy spirit deceive.

你的灵魂会欺骗。

If I should meet thee

要是多少年以后,

After long years,

我偶然与你相会,

How should I greet thee?—

用什么将你迎候?

With silence and tears.

只有沉默和眼泪。

↑手指轻轻上滑查看全诗↑



被爸爸抛弃,阿达埋下数学的种子

Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of the poet George Gordon, Lord Byron and his wife Annabella. Both were privileged members of the aristocracy, and both were gifted and well educated. The marriage broke up shortly after Ada was born.

阿达是诗人拜伦和妻子安娜贝拉的唯一婚生子女。她的父母都是贵族,拥有很好的天资和教育。然而在阿达出生后不久,父母的婚姻就破裂了。


Byron expected his baby to be a "glorious boy" and was disappointed when his wife gave birth to a girl.

拜伦期待自己的孩子是个让自己“引以为傲的儿子”,然而妻子生下来的却是个女儿,他很失望。


All Byron's other children were born out of wedlock to other women. Byron separated from his wife a month after Ada was born and left England forever four months later, eventually dying of disease in the Greek War of Independence when Ada was eight years old. 

拜伦所有其他的孩子都是婚外和其他女人生的。他在阿达出生一个月的时候就和妻子分开了,4个月后又永远地离开了英国。阿达8岁的时候,她爹拜伦在希腊独立战争中因病去世。


不知拜伦在离开妻女后,是否有如他的诗歌《When we two parted》一般的心境呢?


Byron did not have a relationship with his daughter, and never saw her again. Her mother was the only significant parental figure in her life.

拜伦和他的女儿阿达几乎毫无情感联系,自从离开后再也没见过她。阿达的妈妈是唯一对她的人生产生重大影响的单亲家长。


Her mother remained bitter towards Lord Byron and promoted Ada's interest in mathematics and logic in an effort to prevent her from developing what she saw as the insanity seen in her father.

拜伦对自己情感上的伤害,一直让阿达的妈妈难以释怀。为了防止女儿阿达继承她爹的神经质,她很注重培养女儿对数学和逻辑的兴趣。



阿达是怎么成为第一个程序员的?

Ada became a brilliant mathematician, thanks in part to opportunities that were denied most women of the time.

阿达后来成为一位杰出的数学家,也因机缘巧合、她有了那个时代的女人所不具有的机会。



In 1833, Ada Lovelace was introduced to Charles Babbage whom she helped to develop a device called The Analytical Engine; an early predecessor of the modern computer.

1833年,朋友介绍阿达认识了查尔斯·巴贝其(英国数学家、发明家兼机械工程师)。在阿达的帮助下,巴贝其发明了一台分析机,这台分析机就是现代计算机的先驱。


Ada Byron was a teenager when she met Cambridge mathematics professor Charles Babbage, who had invented the Difference Engine, a mechanical computer designed to produce mathematical tables automatically and error-free.By 1834 he had moved on to design his Analytical Engine.

查尔斯·巴贝其是剑桥大学的数学教授。刚认识他时,阿达还是个十几岁的女孩。巴贝其发明了差分机,这是一种可以自动制作数学用表且准确无误的机械计算装置。1934年他开始设计分析机。


Babbage was impressed with the brilliant young woman, and they corresponded for years, discussing math and computing as he developed the Analytical Engine.

这个聪明的女孩子给巴贝其留下了深刻的印象,他们一起研讨数学和计算、合作了很多年,然后巴贝其发明了分析机。


In 1842, Babbage gave a lecture on the engine at the University of Turin.

1842年,巴贝其前往都灵大学做分析机的讲座。



Ada, now in her late 20s, was commissioned to translate the transcript into English. Lovelace added her own notes to the lecture, which ended up being three times as long as the actual transcript. It was published in 1843.

此时阿达已经20多岁了,巴贝其让她把讲稿翻译成英文。在翻译中,阿达添加了大量的笔记和备注,到最后笔记的长度甚至是讲稿的3倍!这份讲稿在1843年发表了。


Lovelace's notes made it clear that she understood the Analytical Engine as well as Babbage himself. 

从阿达的笔记可以看出,她对分析机的理解绝对不比巴贝其差。

分析机



Babbage was so impressed with Lovelace's contributions, he dubbed her "The Enchantress of Numbers."

巴贝其非常认可阿达的贡献,称她是“数字女王”。


These notes contain what many consider to be the first computer program in the world—that is, an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine. Lovelace's notes are important in the early history of computers.

她的笔记里包含了一种机器算法,这种算法被认为是世界上第一个计算机程序。阿达的笔记对于整个计算机史有着很重大的意义。


于是她被公认为世界上第一个程序员。


But more than that, Lovelace was a visionary: she understood that numbers could be used to represent more than just quantities, and a machine that could manipulate numbers could be made to manipulate any data represented by numbers.

但厉害之处还在于,阿达很有远见:她明白,数字不仅仅能代表数量,一台能操作数字的机器,可以处理任何能用数字代表的信息数据。


She predicted that machines like the Analytical Engine could be used to compose music, produce graphics, and be useful to science. Of course, all that came true—in another 100 years. 

她预言,像分析机这样的机器可以用来作曲、制图等等,对科学能有极大帮助。当然啦,她的这些预言100年后都成真了。


世界上第一台计算机



世界上第一台计算机“ENIAC”于1946年在美国宾夕法尼亚大学诞生。发明人是美国人约翰·阿塔那索夫(Atanasoff)教授。美国国防部用它来进行弹道计算。它是一个庞然大物,用了18000个电子管,占地170平方米,重达30吨,耗电功率约150千瓦,每秒钟可进行5000次运算。



在现在这样一个互联网的时代,每天上班要用电脑办公、点外卖要用手机的App、和家人朋友沟通交流要用手机微信……我们几乎时时刻刻都离不开互联网。


我们每天生活中最便捷的服务,看不到的都是程序员的汗水!


程序员就这样改变着我们的世界。无论发生什么,程序员都会淡定地来一句:

Don't panic! I'm a programmer.


而阿达,是程序员的始祖。



阿达的贵族阶层和历史地位

Ada became a baroness in 1835 when she married William King, 8th Baron King; the two had three children. In 1838, she became Countess of Lovelace when her husband was elevated to Earl of Lovelace.

1835年阿达嫁给了威廉·金(第8代金氏男爵),成为一名男爵夫人,后来他们生了3个孩子。1838年,她的丈夫晋升为洛芙莱斯伯爵,她也成为了一位伯爵夫人。


小知识:欧洲的贵族等级

人们通常以联合王国和法国的贵族制度为参考,将西方贵族制度依中国爵位分为五个等级,由高到低依序是:


公爵(Duke)侯爵(Marquess, 在联合王国以外的侯爵称 Marquis)伯爵(Earl,在联合王国以外的伯爵称Count)子爵(Viscount)

男爵(Baron)


还有亲王、大公、王子、从男爵、爵士、骑士等贵族封号。



Her pedigree and peerage alone would have landed Lovelace in the history books, but her accomplishments in mathematics made her a pioneer of not only computing, but of women in science.

她的血统和贵族地位,本身就让“洛芙莱斯”名载史册;但她对数学界的贡献,使她不仅成为计算机的先锋,而且成为科学界女性的先锋。


Lovelace died of cancer in 1852, when she was only 36. More than 160 years later, we remember her contributions to science and engineering in the celebration of Ada Lovelace Day on October 11.

1852年阿达因癌症去世,享年36岁。160多年后的今天,在Ada Lovelace Day(2016年10月11日),我们追忆她对科学和计算机工程的卓越贡献。


First celebrated in 2009 (in March), Ada Lovelace Day is a day set aside to learn about women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

首次Ada Lovelace Day是在2009年三月,人们以此纪念日来赞扬那些对科学、技术、工程学和数学做出卓越贡献的女性。



Ada Lovelace Day的创始人之所以创建了这个纪念日,就是担心人们忽略女性对科技的贡献。这个创意的精妙之处就在于,它没有强调人们忽视女性这个问题,而是积极地向我们展示那些卓越女性的故事、和她们闪光的成就。


阿达就是众多卓越女性的代表。


向程序员致敬!向女性致敬!



最后,来挑战下无字幕听力!

用3分钟视频来回顾阿达的故事吧↓

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?vid=m0335u3vy86&width=500&height=375&auto=0


拜伦诗歌朗读者:雄叔↓





(编辑:星星)

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