Ada, the Enchantress of Numbers:Poetical Science

by Toole, Betty Alexandra

  Would that I were a slave, (providing I had but a kind & just master)! – But I seem to myself as if condemned to liberty; as if I were ordered by Providence to be a wandering & erratic star amongst the boundless Heavens, in vain seeking for entrance into some one of the planetary systems, in vain praying to obey some Sun.–

  No, I was a daring & a presumptuous young spirit; so God has said to me:

  “Thy Sun thou must now make for thyself, or else wander for ever thro’ the wide firmament!” – Solemn decree. –

  That idea might be developped into a fine poem: The Disobedient & Wandering Star. (Not the Wandering Jew). I would rather say the presumptuous than the disobedient, I think. I never was disobedient. Always I shall contend that. –

  What an awful re-action tho’, from the lawless & liberty-seeking state! – Let no one envy this awful condemnation to create my own Sun & my own Orbit & Planetary System; tho’ [an] inglorious destiny, if ever accomplished. But that is such an If. –

  I grow so fond of my old Hen, who understands all I can say & think so much better than any one. I once was pleased to think she was the last person who could comprehend me, or to whom it was safe to commit myself. –

  If ever I succeed in creating my Sun, will the Hen be one of my Planets revolving round it in company with me? – I invite her. Nor let her think lightly of this.

  I know but one other person whom I feel as fully fitted for me to communicate with as yourself, had he had sufficient of my society & sufficient leisure for knowing me. You will guess at once that I mean Dr Locock. – He does not I think as well understand some points, because he really has not had the opportunities & the data. But I feel he would, if he had. So I hope you would accept him for a Brother Planet.

  I question if I am quite as much attached, in a certain way, to any one else; and I hope that will be developped, in the next world, if not in this. Our paths at present here below are somewhat diverse. Not that that is a circumstance which lessens the feeling of attachment, where character is the foundation on both sides. How I wish to live to earn his well founded esteem. His fullest measure of esteem I do not consider that I have, or deserve to have as yet. –

  Well, I have ordained a Hen & a Horse for two of my Planets, & I think at present I will go no further in the list. Gamlen would be my next I think. Mrs Somerville also perhaps. But no Babbage or even Dr King. No, I can think of none others, as yet.

  Oh! I must arrange some Comets too, by & bye. No complete planetary system without. Heavens! how shall I get any comets? I think I must myself be the chief Comet & not merely one of the Planets. Yes – that will do.

  At least I am an amusing Bird, if not a very wise one, with my repentances, my Suns, Planets, Comets, &c, &c, &c.

  I really believe that you hatched me simply for the entertainment of your old age; that you might not be ennuyée...

  Since Ada’s use of drugs has been the subject of both the fiction and nonfiction accounts of her life, a good dose of modern medical opinion is in order. Dr Locock’s prescriptions of opiates might have caused Ada’s dependence on opiates; however, research reported in Scientific American (February 1990) has called into question the addictive nature of opiates when prescribed for pain and terminal illness. When the patient does not need opiates, he can withdraw from them without serious withdrawal symptoms, as will be seen with Ada. On the other hand, opiates needed for pain, as in Ada’s case, act like a sponge; very ill patients can absorb enormous amounts that would be deadly for an addict.

  Dr Locock gave Ada a heavy dose, giving her “Laudanum directly, 25 drops” and put her to bed. If that did not work she received another dosage 3 or 4 hours later. She reported that it did appear to relieve the swelling “in a magical manner.” She felt a warm climate might help, sun in the summer, and galvanization in the winter.

  Ada had a difficult time, under these conditions, finding an appropriate path for her intellectual interests. There were major problems with the tutor, Dr Carpenter. Ada attempted to deal with them, but neither William nor Lady Byron was cooperative. In late 1844 or early 1845 the Lovelaces were making plans to move to a new estate, East Horsley Towers. During 1844 Carpenter had laid out quite a bit of money fixing up a house at Ockham that Lady Byron had promised to cover. There was no accommodation for Carpenter or his family at Horsley, but Ada was confident that some solution would be found.

  Ada considered various scientific subjects that would be appropriate for her to explore. She no longer considered the Analytical Engine as a possibility since Babbage did not want her help in that area. After Ada wrote the Notes and had the argument with Babbage, the nature of their relationship changed. It became much closer emotionally and less involved technologically, though Ada was still supportive of Babbage’s continuing efforts for the Analytical Engine. Where else could she turn but to her own body, racked with pain.

  She could have moaned and groaned and evoked sympathy for her plight but instead used it as an opportunity to understand physiology. She would not tune out with Mesmerism, but tune into her own body. She wrote: “it is to me quite delightful to have a frame so susceptible that it is an experimental laboratory always about me, & inseparable from me. I walk about, not in a Snail-Shell, but in a Molecular Laboratory. This is a new view to take of one’s physical frame; & amply compensates me for all the sufferings, had they been even greater.”

  Her “susceptible frame” would be her inspiration, but she needed to do practical experiments under the guidance of a professional scientist. Ada was impressed by the work of Michael Faraday, and was pleased that he in turn was impressed with her “elasticity of intellect.” He considered her the rising star of science. She saw herself as “A Prophetess born into the world; & this conviction fills me with humility, with fear & trembling!” The big issue was to focus her attention on what was needed.

  Michael Faraday

  “There may possibly be simply a different law for the propagation of impressions thro’ their substance. The molecules may move differently amongst each other. The Creator may have ordained that difference of sensation shall accompany each different law of molecular movement of this description.

  And here lies a deep mystery as yet. A Newton for the Molecular Universe is a crying want; but the nature of the subject renders this desideratum of improbable fulfilment. Such a discovery, (if possible at all), could only be made thro’ very indirect methods; – & would demand a mind that should unite habits of matter of fact reasoning & observation, with the highest imagination, a union unlikely in itself.”

  Poetical Science

  After my first book was published, I was contacted by Dr Robert Langridge, who wanted to use some material from my book as part of a lecture he was giving. Check out his biography: http://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/home/rl/

  He very kindly invited me to visit his laboratory at the University of California at San Francisco. Ada wrote in this chapter that she did not live in a “Snail-Shell But a Molecular Laboratory” and what was needed was “A Newton for the Molecular Universe.” She wanted to do experiments. Ada would have been thrilled, as I was, at how the use of computers maximized the experimental tools of microbiologists.

  18

  A Calculus of the Nervous System, A Hospitable Chaos, The Traitor, Too Much Mathematics

  [1844]

  Michael Faraday could not help Ada perform experiments because he was ill and was unaware of how sick Ada was. He encouraged her with her “unbaulked health and youth in body & mind” to pursue science and her goals. Some of Ada’s alarming symptoms were described in polite company using the catch word at the time, “gastritis.” Hester, Andrew Crosse, and Faraday all complained about various forms of “gastritis.”

  Ada was still searching for a focus for her interests and voiced her goals to Greig, who always encouraged her. It appears from this letter she had changed her view of Martineau’s theories.

  To Woronzow Greig

  Friday, 15 November 1844

  Ashley Com
be

  My Dear Mr Greig. Altho’ I cannot write today as I would wish, yet a line I must give you to say how acceptable is the Vol. It is the very thing I had been wanting & wishing for, I thinking how I could soonest get it.

  I am so much occupied at this moment, in preparation & arrangements for writing, & also (I am sorry to say) in recovering with a very unsteady progress from an attack of my but too common Gastritis, that I cannot say to you all I could desire.

  You do not know perhaps the service you are doing me, in thus keeping my objects in mind, & in collecting for me. Anything & everything you can kindly continue to collect & think of for me, which may bear directly or indirectly on my views, is so much very material assistance to my thoughts & labours. Your letters have been invaluable to me, just at the present juncture.

  So pray scruple not to write as much & as freely as you can, on such topics. . .

  I have my hopes, & very distinct ones too, of one day getting cerebral phenomena such that I can put them into mathematical equations; in short a law or laws, for the mutual actions of the molecules of brain; (equivalent to the law of gravitation for the planetary & sideral world). – . . .

  L [Lovelace] knows all my plans & views & seems to think them not absurd, and that if not feasible in themselves, they may lead to what is, in the course of the investigations. The grand difficulty is in the practical experiments.

  In order to get the exact phenomena I require, I must be a most skillful practical manipulator in experimental tests; & that, on materials difficult to deal with; viz: the brain, blood, & nerves, of animals.

  In time, I will do all, I dare say. And if not, why it don’t signify, & I shall have amused myself at least.

  It appears to me that none of the physiologists have yet got on the right tack; I can’t think why.

  Have you heard about Miss Martineau & the Mesmerism? There can be no doubt of the facts, I am persuaded. I have seen her letters, some of them.

  All this bears on my subjects.

  It does not appear to me that cerebral matter need be more unmanageable to mathematicians than sideral & planetary matters & movements, if they would but inspect it from the right point of view.

  I hope to bequeath to the generations a Calculus of the Nervous System.

  With Many Many thanks, Ever yours

  A.A.L.

  Since Ada was at Ashley Combe in the autumn of 1844, she turned to her Somerset neighbor, Andrew Crosse. He was considered strange both by the scientific community, who accused him of promoting theories of spontaneous generation, and by his neighbors, who called him the “sound and lightning man.” Crosse was performing experiments in growing crystals and producing sound by electromagnetism. Ada was fascinated by electricity and anxious to learn as much as she could.

  Andrew Crosse went to Ashley Combe to accompany William and Ada on the twenty–mile journey back to his home, but William decided not to go at the last moment. Ada went off with Crosse, over the Quantock hills, sharing with him some of her ideas and her desire to perform scientific experiments. He suggested to her that she translate the works of her friend, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, an Egyptologist, into German. Most likely she carried with her the volume of The Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, about the origin of the species, which Greig had given her, and discussed it later at the Crosse household with John Crosse. Babbage was so impressed with Ada’s talents that when he recommended the book to William, he asked William whether Ada had read it, that is, “if she had not written it.”

  To Andrew Crosse

  [undated, most likely 16 Nov 1844]

  Dear Mr. Crosse, – Thank you for your kind and cordial letter. . . On Monday the 18th then, we expect you, and on Wednesday 20th we will all go to Broomfield. Perhaps you have felt already, from the tone of my letter, that I am more than ever now the bride of science. Religion to me is science, and science is religion. In that deeply-felt truth lies the secret of my intense devotion to the reading of God’s natural works. . . And when I behold the scientific and so-called philosophers full of selfish feelings, and of a tendency to war against circumstances and Providence, I say to myself: They are not true priests, they are but half prophets – if not absolutely false ones. They have read the great page simply with the physical eye, and with none of the spirit within. The intellectual, the moral, the religious seem to me all naturally bound up and interlinked together in one great and harmonious whole . . . That God is one, and that all the works and the feelings He has called into existence are ONE; this is a truth (a biblical and scriptural truth too) not in my opinion developed to the apprehension of most people in its really deep and unfathomable meaning. There is too much tendency to making separate and independent bundles of both the physical and the moral facts of the universe.

  Whereas, all and everything is naturally related and interconnected. A volume could I write on this subject . . . I think I may as well just give you a hint that I am subject at times to dreadful physical sufferings. If such should come over me at Broomfield, I may have to keep my room for a time. In that case all I require is to be let alone. With all my wiry power and strength, I am prone at times to bodily sufferings, connected chiefly with the digestive organs, of no common degree or kind. . .

  Ever yours truly,

  A.A. Lovelace

  When Ada arrived at Fyne Court, Broomfield, she must have felt like Alice in Wonderland falling through the tunnel and arriving in an entirely strange and different world. There was no order at Fyne Court, the Crosse home. It was all chaos and random chance. The home has been demolished but the property is now part of the British National Trust and you can visit the web site http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-fynecourt. The countryside is mysterious and beautiful. Ada was fascinated by Andrew’s children. They evoked mystery and fascination: “Two members of the family... are particularly little agreeable, & have what I term a bar sinister about them; – a something or other of a deep & sinister reserve which is withering, viz: Miss Crosse, & Mr Robert Crosse – the 2nd son.” Though much is made of Ada’s relationship with the oldest son John, remember Robert because he does surface again at the end of this story.

  Ada’s relationship with John Crosse the older son has fascinated many biographers who view Lady Byron’s version of that relationship as gospel. As Mark Twain wrote, “The truth is easy to kill, but a lie well told lives forever.” It does make a good story, for from that first evening she was besotted by John. She liked the way he played with her mind, that he did not regard her as a woman, but more like an inquisitive young man. The whole family stayed up reading and discussing metaphysics focusing on the topic of “time and space,” yet forgetting real time and space. They did not retire until after one in the morning.

  When Ada woke up the next morning and went downstairs, it was cold. She found no one around and no breakfast. She bundled up in her boa and shawl and decided to write William. She wrote extensively about John, how knowledgeable he was about German science. This was the direction her cousin Robert Noel suggested she take. John was so brilliant that he could be her “organ to any extent he can, in procuring me every means of keeping au courant as to German mathematics & Natural Philosophy.” She credited John with being an excellent mathematician and metaphysician and who be a “useful addition to catalogue of useful & intellectual friends.”

  The house was oddly designed. The only way to get to the water-closet was to walk through the drawing room, everyone knowing the errand you were on. Sometimes they locked the door to the water-closet and then “one has to make a hue & cry after the key. . .”

  She concluded that there was in the Crosse household “the most utter lack of system even in his Science. At least so it strikes me. I may be mistaken. Perhaps I don’t see enough, as yet, to discover his system. He says himself that he is in unusual confusion & transition-state....I have quite a difficulty to get him to show me what I want. Nothing is ever ready. All chaos & chance.” She concludes in a letter written the next day: “The
re is no order. Everyone straggles down whenever he pleases. You cannot conceive what an odd house it is altogether. The post &c all is by chance, & at all sorts of hours. I never saw the like. . .”

  A few days later Ada left Fyne Court, Broomfield, and headed for her home in London. During the carriage ride all she could think about was the visit and she wrote to Andrew Crosse.

  To Andrew Crosse

  [undated, but most likely 28 November 1844]

  My Dear Mr. Crosse, – I found my gold pencil this morning in the pocket of the gown I wore on Tuesday evening. I believe I had put it there to prevent losing it, as I went up to bed that night. My journey was very wretched, – so cold, so late, so dreary. I could not help lending my cloak to a lady who was my companion, and who seemed to me more delicate and in need of it than myself. This did not, however, add to my own physical comfort. Many times after it became dusk did I think of your hospitable ‘chaos,’ and wish myself back, and imagine to myself if you were all sitting down to dinner, and if you missed me at all or not. In short, I had in my own brain a very comical chaos composed of what I had left behind, and a thousand heterogeneous ideas, all of them but half alive and stagnant through physical cold. . . I have no time to say more, nor indeed, have I anything particular to say as yet. My gold pin does not come forth – but it is not a thing of much consequence. If a stray gold pin, however, does develop itself, don’t fancy it is an electrical production, but send it to me. My kind recollections to the various heterogeneous atoms (organic and inorganic) of your chaotic mass. –