Daughter of the famous romantic poet Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace was a child prodigy. Brilliant at maths, she read numbers like most people read words.

Lady Byron wanted Ada to be as unlike her father as possible. Ada grew up surrounded by an army of tutors who taught her every subject every waking moment, except for poetry.

In 1843 Ada came to the attention of Charles Babbage, a scientist and inventor who had just built a miraculous machine called the `Difference Engine'. Ada and Mr Babbage started working together - a perfect partnership which led to the most important invention of the modern world: the computer!

Part of The Great Victorians series - biographies for children aged 9 and up.