The esteemed Oxford University professor began her talk with a reference to a second Ursula Martin, present in the audience, who walked around the whole of Wales to raise money for a cancer charity (event 264). Then it was straight on to another formidable woman, the pioneering 1840s 'computer' scientist, before computers were invented.
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, "the Mick Jagger of his day", was unfortunate in that her father left for Greece a few weeks after she was born, but fortunate in that as an aristocrat she had access to private tutors.
She was a genius at Maths and explained complicated calculations in language that was accurate and accessible. She knew how important Maths was in making machines work, and her ideas underlie modern-day computer programming.
In Oxford’s Bodleian Library are archived 400 pages of her Maths workings, fascinating for anyone interested in the origins of much of today's technology.
Ada Lovelace believed in life-long learning – after bearing three children she went back to studying Maths with her private tutor. Sadly, she died in great pain with uterine cancer, dependent on morphine in her final months, but her legacy to Maths and science will never be forgotten.