Who Says Women Can’t Be Computer Programmers? The Story of Ada Lovelace

In a vibrant follow-up to Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? (about Elizabeth Blackwell), Stone explores the life of Ada Lovelace, whose imagination rivaled that of her poet father, Lord Byron, to the chagrin of her mother. Lovelace found a kindred spirit in scientist Charles Babbage, and her imagination and mathematical knowledge helped her recognize that his proposed Analytical Engine “not only had the power to process numbers, but it would be able to create things like pictures and music—just as computers do today!” Working in her familiar style of bright, swooping gouache illustrations, Priceman fills the pages with numbers, letters, and mathematical computations—at one point, Lovelace soars above the city, borne on angel wings of numerals and symbols. She emerges as an independent innovator whose enthusiasms are contagious, and an afterword offers additional fascinating details. Ages 6–9. Author’s agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Feb.)