One of the first to understand the potential of Babbage’s machine and to comprehend it’s operation was Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate daughter of the poet, Lord Byron. Because, as Babbage noted, Lovelace was, “far, far better at explaining” the operation of the machine than Babbage himself was, she was it’s primary booster. Besides providing financial support and an almost inexhaustible amount of joie de vivre which motivated Babbage to continue working, she was also the primary coder of the Analytical Engine’s punch cards.