Make Ada Lovelace the Face of the New £50 Note

A new £50 note will shortly be issued by the Royal Mint. There has been a dearth of women celebrated on notes in times past - except for an unelected monarch.

Why not celebrate a woman of achievement? Why not Ada Lovelace?

Ada was a mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is sometimes regarded as the first to recognise the full potential of a "computing machine" and the first computer programmer.

Lovelace on the note would be vastly more positive a choice than, say, Margaret Thatcher. She represents British scientific achievement in a way that is difficult to quantify, but has so far been sadly largely hidden from view.

Let's change that and put Ada on the £50 note!