Brits want to get Ada Lovelace on a banknote with #ada4tenner

Ada Lovelace 1

Ada Lovelace 1

British techies have started a petition to get original geek and computer pioneer Ada Lovelace on a 10 pound note. The campaign began with a Twitter between TechCrunch Editor-at-large Mike Butcher and a few geeky pals.

“The campaign to put Ada Lovelace on a banknote comes against a whirlwind of controversy after the Bank of England announced that Elizabeth Fry would be replaced by Winston Churchill in 2015,” writes Adam Thomas who is helping Haidee Bell drive the campaign.

The petition is attempting to kill two birds with one stone by getting a technology pioneer as well as a prominent woman in British history on a banknote. As with any Twitter-led mission, #ada4tenner is hoping to get some social traction to get the Bank of England to consider their proposal.

“We would like to propose Ada Lovelace — Founder of Scientific Computing — as the new face for the £10 note. A true champion of women in science and technology,” says the petition statement to the Bank of England.

We think it’s pretty cool. Still in its infancy, the petition currently has around 237 signatures and looking for a lot more.

Who is Ada Lovelace?

Before computing became computing, Lovelace’s work on programming was part of the foundation of modern of software development, computer algorithms, artificial intelligence and electronic music. The daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron, she is pretty damn cool, and an inspiration to anyone wanting to burst through the glass ceiling. Check out the below video to learn more.

Information Pioneers: Ada Lovelace from Information Pioneers on Vimeo.

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