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lt of obstruction of cerebrospinal fluid outflow. Succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency Succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficiency is an autosomalrecessive gene disorder where mutations in the ALDH5A1 gene results in the accumulation of gammaHydroxybutyric acid GHB in the body. GHB accumulates in the nervous system and can cause ataxia as well as other neurological dysfunction. Wilson's disease Wilson's disease is an autosomalrecessive gene disorder whereby an alteration of the ATP7B gene results in an inability to properly excrete copper from the body. Copper accumulates in the nervous system and liver and can cause ataxia as well as other neurological and organ impairments. Gluten ataxia Gluten ataxia is an autoimmune disease triggered by the ingestion of gluten. Early diagnosis and treatment with a glutenfree diet can improve ataxia and prevent its progression. The effectiveness of the treatment depends on the elapsed time from the onset of the ataxia until diagnosis, because the death
of neurons in the cerebellum as a result of gluten exposure is irreversible. It accounts for 40 of ataxias of unknown origin and 15 of all ataxias. Less than 10 of people with gluten ataxia present any gastrointestinal symptom and only about 40 have intestinal damage. This entity is classified into primary autoimmune cerebellar ataxias PACA. Potassium pump Malfunction of the sodiumpotassium pump may be a factor in some ataxias. The pump has been shown to control and set the intrinsic activity mode of cerebellar Purkinje neurons. This suggests that the pump might not simply be a homeostatic, "housekeeping" molecule for ionic gradients; but could be a computational element in the cerebellum and the brain. Indeed, an ouabain block of pumps in the cerebellum of a live mouse results in it displaying ataxia and dystonia. Ataxia is observed for lower ouabain concentrations, dystonia is observed at higher ouabain concentrations. Cerebellar ataxia associated with antiGAD antibodies Antibodies against the enzyme
glutamic acid decarboxylase GAD enzyme changing glutamate into GABA cause cerebellar deficits. The antibodies impair motor learning and cause behavioral deficits. GAD antibodies related ataxia is part of the group called immunemediated cerebellar ataxias. The antibodies induce a synaptopathy. The cerebellum is particularly vulnerable to autoimmune disorders. Cerebellar circuitry has capacities to compensate and restore function thanks to cerebellar reserve, gathering multiple forms of plasticity. LTDpathies gather immune disorders targeting longterm depression LTD, a form of plasticity. Diagnosis Imaging studies A CT scan or MRI of the brain might help determine potential causes. An MRI can sometimes show shrinkage of the cerebellum and other brain structures in people with ataxia. It may also show other treatable findings, such as a blood clot or benign tumour, that could be pressing on the cerebellum. Lumbar puncture spinal tap A needle is inserted into the lower back lumbar region between two lumbar
vertebrae to obtain a sample of cerebrospinal fluid for testing. Genetic testing Determines whether the mutation that causes one of the hereditary ataxic conditions is present. Tests are available for many but not all of the hereditary ataxias. Treatment The treatment of ataxia and its effectiveness depend on the underlying cause. Treatment may limit or reduce the effects of ataxia, but it is unlikely to eliminate them entirely. Recovery tends to be better in individuals with a single focal injury such as stroke or a benign tumour, compared to those who have a neurological degenerative condition. A review of the management of degenerative ataxia was published in 2009. A small number of rare conditions presenting with prominent cerebellar ataxia are amenable to specific treatment and recognition of these disorders is critical. Diseases include vitamin E deficiency, abetalipoproteinemia, cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis, NiemannPick type C disease, Refsum's disease, glucose transporter type 1 deficiency, epi
sodic ataxia type 2, gluten ataxia, glutamic acid decarboxylase ataxia. Novel therapies target the RNA defects associated with cerebellar disorders, using in particular antisense oligonucleotides. The movement disorders associated with ataxia can be managed by pharmacological treatments and through physical therapy and occupational therapy to reduce disability. Some drug treatments that have been used to control ataxia include 5hydroxytryptophan 5HTP, idebenone, amantadine, physostigmine, Lcarnitine or derivatives, trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole, vigabatrin, phosphatidylcholine, acetazolamide, 4aminopyridine, buspirone, and a combination of coenzyme Q10 and vitamin E. Physical therapy requires a focus on adapting activity and facilitating motor learning for retraining specific functional motor patterns. A recent systematic review suggested that physical therapy is effective, but there is only moderate evidence to support this conclusion. The most commonly used physical therapy interventions for cerebellar ata
xia are vestibular habituation, Frenkel exercises, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation PNF, and balance training; however, therapy is often highly individualized and gait and coordination training are large components of therapy. Current research suggests that, if a person is able to walk with or without a mobility aid, physical therapy should include an exercise program addressing five components static balance, dynamic balance, trunklimb coordination, stairs, and contracture prevention. Once the physical therapist determines that the individual is able to safely perform parts of the program independently, it is important that the individual be prescribed and regularly engage in a supplementary home exercise program that incorporates these components to further improve long term outcomes. These outcomes include balance tasks, gait, and individual activities of daily living. While the improvements are attributed primarily to changes in the brain and not just the hip or ankle joints, it is still unknown
whether the improvements are due to adaptations in the cerebellum or compensation by other areas of the brain. Decomposition, simplification, or slowing of multijoint movement may also be an effective strategy that therapists may use to improve function in patients with ataxia. Training likely needs to be intense and focusedas indicated by one study performed with stroke patients experiencing limb ataxia who underwent intensive upper limb retraining. Their therapy consisted of constraintinduced movement therapy which resulted in improvements of their arm function. Treatment should likely include strategies to manage difficulties with everyday activities such as walking. Gait aids such as a cane or walker can be provided to decrease the risk of falls associated with impairment of balance or poor coordination. Severe ataxia may eventually lead to the need for a wheelchair. To obtain better results, possible coexisting motor deficits need to be addressed in addition to those induced by ataxia. For example, mus
cle weakness and decreased endurance could lead to increasing fatigue and poorer movement patterns. There are several assessment tools available to therapists and health care professionals working with patients with ataxia. The International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale ICARS is one of the most widely used and has been proven to have very high reliability and validity. Other tools that assess motor function, balance and coordination are also highly valuable to help the therapist track the progress of their patient, as well as to quantify the patient's functionality. These tests include, but are not limited to The Berg Balance Scale Tandem Walking to test for Tandem gaitability Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia SARA tapping tests The person must quickly and repeatedly tap their arm or leg while the therapist monitors the amount of dysdiadochokinesia. fingernose testing This test has several variations including fingertotherapist's finger, fingertofinger, and alternate nosetofinger. Indu
stry Insights According to the report published by the Facts and Factors, global demand for the ataxia market was estimated at approximately USD 29,401.1 Million in 2020 and is expected to generate revenue of around USD 46,000.8 Million by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of around 10.2 between 2021 and 2026. Other uses The term "ataxia" is sometimes used in a broader sense to indicate lack of coordination in some physiological process. Examples include optic ataxia lack of coordination between visual inputs and hand movements, resulting in inability to reach and grab objects and ataxic respiration lack of coordination in respiratory movements, usually due to dysfunction of the respiratory centres in the medulla oblongata. Optic ataxia may be caused by lesions to the posterior parietal cortex, which is responsible for combining and expressing positional information and relating it to movement. Outputs of the posterior parietal cortex include the spinal cord, brain stem motor pathways, premotor and prefr
ontal cortex, basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Some neurons in the posterior parietal cortex are modulated by intention. Optic ataxia is usually part of Balint's syndrome, but can be seen in isolation with injuries to the superior parietal lobule, as it represents a disconnection between visualassociation cortex and the frontal premotor and motor cortex. See also Ataxic cerebral palsy Spinocerebellar ataxia Bruns apraxia References Further reading External links Symptoms and signs Nervous system Stroke
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace ne Byron; 10 December 1815 27 November 1852 was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical generalpurpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and to have published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer. Ada Byron was the only child of poet Lord Byron and mathematician Lady Byron. All of Byron's other children were born out of wedlock to other women. Byron separated from his wife a month after Ada was born and left England forever. Four months later, he commemorated the parting in a poem that begins, "Is thy face like thy mother's my fair child! ADA! sole daughter of my house and heart?". He died in Greece when Ada was eight years old. Her mother remained bitter and promoted Ada's interest in mathematics and logic in an effort to
prevent her from developing her father's perceived insanity. Despite this, Ada remained interested in him, naming her two sons Byron and Gordon. Upon her death, she was buried next to him at her request. Although often ill in her childhood, Ada pursued her studies assiduously. She married William King in 1835. King was made Earl of Lovelace in 1838, Ada thereby becoming Countess of Lovelace. Her educational and social exploits brought her into contact with scientists such as Andrew Crosse, Charles Babbage, Sir David Brewster, Charles Wheatstone, Michael Faraday and the author Charles Dickens, contacts which she used to further her education. Ada described her approach as "poetical science" and herself as an "Analyst Metaphysician". When she was a teenager 18, her mathematical talents led her to a long working relationship and friendship with fellow British mathematician Charles Babbage, who is known as "the father of computers". She was in particular interested in Babbage's work on the Analytical Engine.
Lovelace first met him in June 1833, through their mutual friend, and her private tutor, Mary Somerville. Between 1842 and 1843, Ada translated an article by Italian military engineer Luigi Menabrea about the Analytical Engine, supplementing it with an elaborate set of notes, simply called "Notes". Lovelace's notes are important in the early history of computers, containing what many consider to be the first computer programthat is, an algorithm designed to be carried out by a machine. Other historians reject this perspective and point out that Babbage's personal notes from the years 18361837 contain the first programs for the engine. She also developed a vision of the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or numbercrunching, while many others, including Babbage himself, focused only on those capabilities. Her mindset of "poetical science" led her to ask questions about the Analytical Engine as shown in her notes examining how individuals and society relate to technology as a collaborative to
ol. She died of uterine cancer in 1852 at the age of 36, the same age at which her father died. Biography Childhood Lord Byron expected his child to be a "glorious boy" and was disappointed when Lady Byron gave birth to a girl. The child was named after Byron's halfsister, Augusta Leigh, and was called "Ada" by Byron himself. On 16 January 1816, at Lord Byron's command, Lady Byron left for her parents' home at Kirkby Mallory, taking their fiveweekold daughter with her. Although English law at the time granted full custody of children to the father in cases of separation, Lord Byron made no attempt to claim his parental rights, but did request that his sister keep him informed of Ada's welfare. On 21 April, Lord Byron signed the deed of separation, although very reluctantly, and left England for good a few days later. Aside from an acrimonious separation, Lady Byron continued throughout her life to make allegations about her husband's immoral behaviour. This set of events made Lovelace infamous in Victoria
n society. Ada did not have a relationship with her father. He died in 1824 when she was eight years old. Her mother was the only significant parental figure in her life. Lovelace was not shown the family portrait of her father until her 20th birthday. Lovelace did not have a close relationship with her mother. She was often left in the care of her maternal grandmother Judith, Hon. Lady Milbanke, who doted on her. However, because of societal attitudes of the timewhich favoured the husband in any separation, with the welfare of any child acting as mitigationLady Byron had to present herself as a loving mother to the rest of society. This included writing anxious letters to Lady Milbanke about her daughter's welfare, with a cover note saying to retain the letters in case she had to use them to show maternal concern. In one letter to Lady Milbanke, she referred to her daughter as "it" "I talk to it for your satisfaction, not my own, and shall be very glad when you have it under your own." Lady Byron had her te
enage daughter watched by close friends for any sign of moral deviation. Lovelace dubbed these observers the "Furies" and later complained they exaggerated and invented stories about her. Lovelace was often ill, beginning in early childhood. At the age of eight, she experienced headaches that obscured her vision. In June 1829, she was paralyzed after a bout of measles. She was subjected to continuous bed rest for nearly a year, something which may have extended her period of disability. By 1831, she was able to walk with crutches. Despite the illnesses, she developed her mathematical and technological skills. Ada Byron had an affair with a tutor in early 1833. She tried to elope with him after she was caught, but the tutor's relatives recognised her and contacted her mother. Lady Byron and her friends covered the incident up to prevent a public scandal. Lovelace never met her younger halfsister, Allegra, the daughter of Lord Byron and Claire Clairmont. Allegra died in 1822 at the age of five. Lovelace did h
ave some contact with Elizabeth Medora Leigh, the daughter of Byron's halfsister Augusta Leigh, who purposely avoided Lovelace as much as possible when introduced at court. Adult years Lovelace became close friends with her tutor Mary Somerville, who introduced her to Charles Babbage in 1833. She had a strong respect and affection for Somerville, and they corresponded for many years. Other acquaintances included the scientists Andrew Crosse, Sir David Brewster, Charles Wheatstone, Michael Faraday and the author Charles Dickens. She was presented at Court at the age of seventeen "and became a popular belle of the season" in part because of her "brilliant mind." By 1834 Ada was a regular at Court and started attending various events. She danced often and was able to charm many people, and was described by most people as being dainty, although John Hobhouse, Byron's friend, described her as "a large, coarseskinned young woman but with something of my friend's features, particularly the mouth". This description
followed their meeting on 24 February 1834 in which Ada made it clear to Hobhouse that she did not like him, probably due to her mother's influence, which led her to dislike all of her father's friends. This first impression was not to last, and they later became friends. On 8 July 1835, she married William, 8th Baron King, becoming Lady King. They had three homes Ockham Park, Surrey; a Scottish estate on Loch Torridon in Rossshire; and a house in London. They spent their honeymoon at Worthy Manor in Ashley Combe near Porlock Weir, Somerset. The Manor had been built as a hunting lodge in 1799 and was improved by King in preparation for their honeymoon. It later became their summer retreat and was further improved during this time. From 1845, the family's main house was Horsley Towers, built in the Tudorbethan fashion by the architect of the Houses of Parliament, Charles Barry, and later greatly enlarged to Lovelace's own designs. They had three children Byron born 1836; Anne Isabella called Annabella, born
1837; and Ralph Gordon born 1839. Immediately after the birth of Annabella, Lady King experienced "a tedious and suffering illness, which took months to cure." Ada was a descendant of the extinct Barons Lovelace and in 1838, her husband was made Earl of Lovelace and Viscount Ockham, meaning Ada became the Countess of Lovelace. In 184344, Ada's mother assigned William Benjamin Carpenter to teach Ada's children and to act as a "moral" instructor for Ada. He quickly fell for her and encouraged her to express any frustrated affections, claiming that his marriage meant he would never act in an "unbecoming" manner. When it became clear that Carpenter was trying to start an affair, Ada cut it off. In 1841, Lovelace and Medora Leigh the daughter of Lord Byron's halfsister Augusta Leigh were told by Ada's mother that Ada's father was also Medora's father. On 27 February 1841, Ada wrote to her mother "I am not in the least astonished. In fact, you merely confirm what I have for years and years felt scarcely a doubt a
bout, but should have considered it most improper in me to hint to you that I in any way suspected." She did not blame the incestuous relationship on Byron, but instead blamed Augusta Leigh "I fear she is more inherently wicked than he ever was." In the 1840s, Ada flirted with scandals firstly, from a relaxed approach to extramarital relationships with men, leading to rumours of affairs; and secondly, from her love of gambling. She apparently lost more than 3,000 on the horses during the later 1840s. The gambling led to her forming a syndicate with male friends, and an ambitious attempt in 1851 to create a mathematical model for successful large bets. This went disastrously wrong, leaving her thousands of pounds in debt to the syndicate, forcing her to admit it all to her husband. She had a shadowy relationship with Andrew Crosse's son John from 1844 onwards. John Crosse destroyed most of their correspondence after her death as part of a legal agreement. She bequeathed him the only heirlooms her father had pe
rsonally left to her. During her final illness, she would panic at the idea of the younger Crosse being kept from visiting her. Education From 1832, when she was seventeen, her mathematical abilities began to emerge, and her interest in mathematics dominated the majority of her adult life. Her mother's obsession with rooting out any of the insanity of which she accused Byron was one of the reasons that Ada was taught mathematics from an early age. She was privately educated in mathematics and science by William Frend, William King, and Mary Somerville, the noted 19thcentury researcher and scientific author. In the 1840s, the mathematician Augustus De Morgan extended her "much help in her mathematical studies" including study of advanced calculus topics including the "numbers of Bernoulli" that formed her celebrated algorithm for Babbage's Analytical Engine. In a letter to Lady Byron, De Morgan suggested that Ada's skill in mathematics might lead her to become "an original mathematical investigator, perhaps o
f firstrate eminence." Lovelace often questioned basic assumptions through integrating poetry and science. Whilst studying differential calculus, she wrote to De Morgan I may remark that the curious transformations many formulae can undergo, the unsuspected and to a beginner apparently impossible identity of forms exceedingly dissimilar at first sight, is I think one of the chief difficulties in the early part of mathematical studies. I am often reminded of certain sprites and fairies one reads of, who are at one's elbows in one shape now, and the next minute in a form most dissimilar. Lovelace believed that intuition and imagination were critical to effectively applying mathematical and scientific concepts. She valued metaphysics as much as mathematics, viewing both as tools for exploring "the unseen worlds around us." Death Lovelace died at the age of 36 on 27 November 1852, from uterine cancer. The illness lasted several months, in which time Annabella took command over whom Ada saw, and excluded all
of her friends and confidants. Under her mother's influence, Ada had a religious transformation and was coaxed into repenting of her previous conduct and making Annabella her executor. She lost contact with her husband after confessing something to him on 30 August which caused him to abandon her bedside. It is not known what she told him. She was buried, at her request, next to her father at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. A memorial plaque, written in Latin, to her and her father is in the chapel attached to Horsley Towers. Work Throughout her life, Lovelace was strongly interested in scientific developments and fads of the day, including phrenology and mesmerism. After her work with Babbage, Lovelace continued to work on other projects. In 1844, she commented to a friend Woronzow Greig about her desire to create a mathematical model for how the brain gives rise to thoughts and nerves to feelings "a calculus of the nervous system". She never achieved this, however. In part, h
er interest in the brain came from a longrunning preoccupation, inherited from her mother, about her "potential" madness. As part of her research into this project, she visited the electrical engineer Andrew Crosse in 1844 to learn how to carry out electrical experiments. In the same year, she wrote a review of a paper by Baron Karl von Reichenbach, Researches on Magnetism, but this was not published and does not appear to have progressed past the first draft. In 1851, the year before her cancer struck, she wrote to her mother mentioning "certain productions" she was working on regarding the relation of maths and music. Lovelace first met Charles Babbage in June 1833, through their mutual friend Mary Somerville. Later that month, Babbage invited Lovelace to see the prototype for his difference engine. She became fascinated with the machine and used her relationship with Somerville to visit Babbage as often as she could. Babbage was impressed by Lovelace's intellect and analytic skills. He called her "The Enc
hantress of Number." In 1843, he wrote to her During a ninemonth period in 184243, Lovelace translated the Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea's article on Babbage's newest proposed machine, the Analytical Engine. With the article, she appended a set of notes. Explaining the Analytical Engine's function was a difficult task, as many other scientists did not really grasp the concept and the British establishment had shown little interest in it. Lovelace's notes even had to explain how the Analytical Engine differed from the original Difference Engine. Her work was well received at the time; the scientist Michael Faraday described himself as a supporter of her writing. The notes are around three times longer than the article itself and include in Note G, in complete detail, a method for calculating a sequence of Bernoulli numbers using the Analytical Engine, which might have run correctly had it ever been built only Babbage's Difference Engine has been built, completed in London in 2002. Based on this work,
Lovelace is now considered by many to be the first computer programmer and her method has been called the world's first computer program. Others dispute this because some of Charles Babbage's earlier writings could be considered computer programs. Note G also contains Lovelace's dismissal of artificial intelligence. She wrote that "The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It can follow analysis; but it has no power of anticipating any analytical relations or truths." This objection has been the subject of much debate and rebuttal, for example by Alan Turing in his paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence". Lovelace and Babbage had a minor falling out when the papers were published, when he tried to leave his own statement criticising the government's treatment of his Engine as an unsigned preface, which could have been mistakenly interpreted as a joint declaration. When Taylor's Scientific Memoirs ruled that the statem
ent should be signed, Babbage wrote to Lovelace asking her to withdraw the paper. This was the first that she knew he was leaving it unsigned, and she wrote back refusing to withdraw the paper. The historian Benjamin Woolley theorised that "His actions suggested he had so enthusiastically sought Ada's involvement, and so happily indulged her ... because of her 'celebrated name'." Their friendship recovered, and they continued to correspond. On 12 August 1851, when she was dying of cancer, Lovelace wrote to him asking him to be her executor, though this letter did not give him the necessary legal authority. Part of the terrace at Worthy Manor was known as Philosopher's Walk, as it was there that Lovelace and Babbage were reputed to have walked while discussing mathematical principles. First computer program In 1840, Babbage was invited to give a seminar at the University of Turin about his Analytical Engine. Luigi Menabrea, a young Italian engineer and the future Prime Minister of Italy, transcribed Babbage'
s lecture into French, and this transcript was subsequently published in the Bibliothque universelle de Genve in October 1842. Babbage's friend Charles Wheatstone commissioned Ada Lovelace to translate Menabrea's paper into English. She then augmented the paper with notes, which were added to the translation. Ada Lovelace spent the better part of a year doing this, assisted with input from Babbage. These notes, which are more extensive than Menabrea's paper, were then published in the September 1843 edition of Taylor's Scientific Memoirs under the initialism AAL. Ada Lovelace's notes were labelled alphabetically from A to G. In note G, she describes an algorithm for the Analytical Engine to compute Bernoulli numbers. It is considered to be the first published algorithm ever specifically tailored for implementation on a computer, and Ada Lovelace has often been cited as the first computer programmer for this reason. The engine was never completed so her program was never tested. In 1953, more than a century
after her death, Ada Lovelace's notes on Babbage's Analytical Engine were republished as an appendix to B. V. Bowden's Faster than Thought A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines. The engine has now been recognised as an early model for a computer and her notes as a description of a computer and software. Insight into potential of computing devices In her notes, Ada Lovelace emphasised the difference between the Analytical Engine and previous calculating machines, particularly its ability to be programmed to solve problems of any complexity. She realised the potential of the device extended far beyond mere number crunching. In her notes, she wrote This analysis was an important development from previous ideas about the capabilities of computing devices and anticipated the implications of modern computing one hundred years before they were realised. Walter Isaacson ascribes Ada's insight regarding the application of computing to any process based on logical symbols to an observation about textiles "When sh
e saw some mechanical looms that used punchcards to direct the weaving of beautiful patterns, it reminded her of how Babbage's engine used punched cards to make calculations." This insight is seen as significant by writers such as Betty Toole and Benjamin Woolley, as well as the programmer John GrahamCumming, whose project Plan 28 has the aim of constructing the first complete Analytical Engine. According to the historian of computing and Babbage specialist Doron Swade Ada saw something that Babbage in some sense failed to see. In Babbage's world his engines were bound by number...What Lovelace saw...was that number could represent entities other than quantity. So once you had a machine for manipulating numbers, if those numbers represented other things, letters, musical notes, then the machine could manipulate symbols of which number was one instance, according to rules. It is this fundamental transition from a machine which is a number cruncher to a machine for manipulating symbols according to rules that
is the fundamental transition from calculation to computationto generalpurpose computationand looking back from the present high ground of modern computing, if we are looking and sifting history for that transition, then that transition was made explicitly by Ada in that 1843 paper. Controversy over contribution Though Lovelace is often referred to as the first computer programmer, some biographers, computer scientists and historians of computing claim otherwise. Allan G. Bromley, in the 1990 article Difference and Analytical Engines Bruce Collier, who later wrote a biography of Babbage, wrote in his 1970 Harvard University PhD thesis that Lovelace "made a considerable contribution to publicizing the Analytical Engine, but there is no evidence that she advanced the design or theory of it in any way". Eugene Eric Kim and Betty Alexandra Toole consider it "incorrect" to regard Lovelace as the first computer programmer, as Babbage wrote the initial programs for his Analytical Engine, although the majority we
re never published. Bromley notes several dozen sample programs prepared by Babbage between 1837 and 1840, all substantially predating Lovelace's notes. Dorothy K. Stein regards Lovelace's notes as "more a reflection of the mathematical uncertainty of the author, the political purposes of the inventor, and, above all, of the social and cultural context in which it was written, than a blueprint for a scientific development." Doron Swade, a specialist on history of computing known for his work on Babbage, discussed Lovelace during a lecture on Babbage's analytical engine. He explained that Ada was only a "promising beginner" instead of genius in mathematics, that she began studying basic concepts of mathematics five years after Babbage conceived the analytical engine so she could not have made important contributions to it, and that she only published the first computer program instead of actually writing it. But he agrees that Ada was the only person to see the potential of the analytical engine as a machine
capable of expressing entities other than quantities. In his selfpublished book, Idea Makers, Stephen Wolfram defends Lovelace's contributions. While acknowledging that Babbage wrote several unpublished algorithms for the Analytical Engine prior to Lovelace's notes, Wolfram argues that "there's nothing as sophisticatedor as cleanas Ada's computation of the Bernoulli numbers. Babbage certainly helped and commented on Ada's work, but she was definitely the driver of it." Wolfram then suggests that Lovelace's main achievement was to distill from Babbage's correspondence "a clear exposition of the abstract operation of the machinesomething which Babbage never did." In popular culture 1810s Lord Byron wrote the poem "Fare Thee Well" to his wife Lady Byron in 1816, following their separation after the birth of Ada Lovelace. In the poem he writes And when thou would'st solace gather When our child's first accents flow Wilt thou teach her to say "Father!" Though his care she must forego? When her little hands shal
l press thee When her lip to thine is pressed Think of him whose prayer shall bless thee Think of him thy love had blessed! Should her lineaments resemble Those thou never more may'st see, Then thy heart will softly tremble With a pulse yet true to me. 1970s Lovelace is portrayed in Romulus Linney's 1977 play Childe Byron. 1990s In the 1990 steampunk novel The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, Lovelace delivers a lecture on the "punched cards" programme which proves Gdel's incompleteness theorems decades before their actual discovery. In the 1997 film Conceiving Ada, a computer scientist obsessed with Ada finds a way of communicating with her in the past by means of "undying information waves". In Tom Stoppard's 1993 play Arcadia, the precocious teenage genius Thomasina Coverlya character "apparently based" on Ada Lovelace the play also involves Lord Byroncomes to understand chaos theory, and theorises the second law of thermodynamics, before either is officially recognised. 2000s
Lovelace features in John Crowley's 2005 novel, Lord Byron's Novel The Evening Land, as an unseen character whose personality is forcefully depicted in her annotations and antiheroic efforts to archive her father's lost novel. 2010s The 2015 play Ada and the Engine by Lauren Gunderson portrays Lovelace and Charles Babbage in unrequited love, and it imagines a postdeath meeting between Lovelace and her father. Lovelace and Babbage are the main characters in Sydney Padua's webcomic and graphic novel The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage. The comic features extensive footnotes on the history of Ada Lovelace, and many lines of dialogue are drawn from actual correspondence. Lovelace and Mary Shelley as teenagers are the central characters in Jordan Stratford's steampunk series, The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency. Lovelace, identified as Ada Augusta Byron, is portrayed by Lily Lesser in the second season of The Frankenstein Chronicles. She is employed as an "analyst" to provide the workings of a l
ifesized humanoid automaton. The brass workings of the machine are reminiscent of Babbage's analytical engine. Her employment is described as keeping her occupied until she returns to her studies in advanced mathematics. Lovelace and Babbage appear as characters in the second season of the ITV series Victoria 2017. Emerald Fennell portrays Lovelace in the episode, "The GreenEyed Monster." The Cardano cryptocurrency platform, which was launched in 2017, uses Ada as the name for their cryptocurrency and Lovelace as the smallest subunit of an Ada. "Lovelace" is the name given to the operating system designed by the character Cameron Howe in Halt and Catch Fire. Lovelace is a primary character in the 2019 Big Finish Doctor Who audio play The Enchantress of Numbers, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Jane Slavin as his current companion, WPC Ann Kelso. Lovelace is played by Finty Williams. In 2019, Lovelace is a featured character in the play STEM FEMMES by Philadelphia theater company Applied Mechan
ics. 2020s Lovelace features as a character in "Spyfall, Part 2", the second episode of Doctor Who, series 12, which first aired on BBC One on 5 January 2020. The character was portrayed by Sylvie Briggs, alongside characterisations of Charles Babbage and Noor Inayat Khan. In 2021, Nvidia named their upcoming GPU architecture to be released in 2022, "Ada Lovelace", after her. Commemoration The computer language Ada, created on behalf of the United States Department of Defense, was named after Lovelace. The reference manual for the language was approved on 10 December 1980 and the Department of Defense Military Standard for the language, MILSTD1815, was given the number of the year of her birth. In 1981, the Association for Women in Computing inaugurated its Ada Lovelace Award. Since 1998, the British Computer Society BCS has awarded the Lovelace Medal, and in 2008 initiated an annual competition for women students. BCSWomen sponsors the Lovelace Colloquium, an annual conference for women undergraduates. A
da College is a furthereducation college in Tottenham Hale, London, focused on digital skills. Ada Lovelace Day is an annual event celebrated on the second Tuesday of October, which began in 2009. Its goal is to "... raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering, and maths," and to "create new role models for girls and women" in these fields. Events have included Wikipedia editathons with the aim of improving the representation of women on Wikipedia in terms of articles and editors to reduce unintended gender bias on Wikipedia. The Ada Initiative was a nonprofit organisation dedicated to increasing the involvement of women in the free culture and open source movements. The Engineering in Computer Science and Telecommunications College building in Zaragoza University is called the Ada Byron Building. The computer centre in the village of Porlock, near where Lovelace lived, is named after her. Ada Lovelace House is a councilowned building in KirkbyinAshfield, Nottinghamshire, near where Lovel
ace spent her infancy. In 2012, a Google Doodle and blog post honoured her on her birthday. In 2013, Ada Developers Academy was founded and named after her. The mission of Ada Developers Academy is to diversify tech by providing women and gender diverse people the skills, experience, and community support to become professional software developers to change the face of tech. On 17 September 2013, an episode of Great Lives about Ada Lovelace aired. As of November 2015, all new British passports have included an illustration of Lovelace and Babbage. In 2017, a Google Doodle honoured her with other women on International Women's Day. On 2 February 2018, Satellogic, a highresolution Earth observation imaging and analytics company, launched a uSat type microsatellite named in honour of Ada Lovelace. In March 2018, The New York Times published a belated obituary for Ada Lovelace. On 27 July 2018, Senator Ron Wyden submitted, in the United States Senate, the designation of 9 October 2018 as National Ada Lov
elace Day "To honor the life and contributions of Ada Lovelace as a leading woman in science and mathematics". The resolution S.Res.592 was considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by unanimous consent. In November 2020 it was announced that Trinity College Dublin whose library had previously held forty busts, all of them of men, was commissioning four new busts of women, one of whom was to be Lovelace. Bicentenary The bicentenary of Ada Lovelace's birth was celebrated with a number of events, including The Ada Lovelace Bicentenary Lectures on Computability, Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, 20 December 2015 31 January 2016. Ada Lovelace Symposium, University of Oxford, 1314 October 2015. Ada.Ada.Ada, a onewoman show about the life and work of Ada Lovelace using an LED dress, premiered at Edinburgh International Science Festival on 11 April 2015, and continues to touring internationally to promote diversity on STEM at technology conferences, businesses, government and educati
onal organisations. Special exhibitions were displayed by the Science Museum in London, England and the Weston Library part of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. Publications Lovelace, Ada King. Ada, the Enchantress of Numbers A Selection from the Letters of Lord Byron's Daughter and her Description of the First Computer. Mill Valley, CA Strawberry Press, 1992. . Publication history Six copies of the 1843 first edition of Sketch of the Analytical Engine with Ada Lovelace's "Notes" have been located. Three are held at Harvard University, one at the University of Oklahoma, and one at the United States Air Force Academy. On 20 July 2018, the sixth copy was sold at auction to an anonymous buyer for 95,000. A digital facsimile of one of the copies in the Harvard University Library is available online. In December 2016, a letter written by Ada Lovelace was forfeited by Martin Shkreli to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance for unpaid taxes owed by Shkreli. See also AiDa robot Code D
ebugging the Gender Gap List of pioneers in computer science Timeline of women in science Women in computing Women in STEM fields Explanatory notes References General sources . . . . . . . With notes upon the memoir by the translator. Miller, Clair Cain. "Ada Lovelace, 18151852," New York Times, 8 March 2018. . . . . . . . Further reading Miranda Seymour, In Byron's Wake The Turbulent Lives of Byron's Wife and Daughter Annabella Milbanke and Ada Lovelace, Pegasus, 2018, 547 pp. Christopher Hollings, Ursula Martin, and Adrian Rice, Ada Lovelace The Making of a Computer Scientist, Bodleian Library, 2018, 114 pp. Jenny Uglow, "Stepping Out of Byron's Shadow", The New York Review of Books, vol. LXV, no. 18 22 November 2018, pp. 3032. Jennifer Chiaverini, Enchantress of Numbers, Dutton, 2017, 426 pp. External links "Ada's Army gets set to rewrite history at Inspirefest 2018" by Luke Maxwell, 4 August 2018 "Untangling the Tale of Ada Lovelace" by Stephen Wolfram, December
2015 1815 births 1852 deaths 19thcentury British women scientists 19thcentury British writers 19thcentury English mathematicians 19thcentury English women writers 19thcentury British inventors 19thcentury English nobility Ada programming language British countesses British women computer scientists British women mathematicians Burials in Nottinghamshire Ada Women computer scientists Computer designers Daughters of barons Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from uterine cancer English computer programmers English people of Scottish descent English women poets Lord Byron Mathematicians from London Women of the Victorian era Burials at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Hucknall
August William Derleth February 24, 1909 July 4, 1971 was an American writer and anthologist. Though best remembered as the first book publisher of the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and for his own contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos and the cosmic horror genre, as well as his founding of the publisher Arkham House which did much to bring supernatural fiction into print in hardcover in the US that had only been readily available in the UK, Derleth was a leading American regional writer of his day, as well as prolific in several other genres, including historical fiction, poetry, detective fiction, science fiction, and biography. A 1938 Guggenheim Fellow, Derleth considered his most serious work to be the ambitious Sac Prairie Saga, a series of fiction, historical fiction, poetry, and nonfiction naturalist works designed to memorialize life in the Wisconsin he knew. Derleth can also be considered a pioneering naturalist and conservationist in his writing. Life The son of William Julius Derleth and Rose Loui
se Volk, Derleth grew up in Sauk City, Wisconsin. He was educated in local parochial and public high school. Derleth wrote his first fiction at age 13. He was interested most in reading, and he made three trips to the library a week. He would save his money to buy books his personal library exceeded 12,000 later on in life. Some of his biggest influences were Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays, Walt Whitman, H. L. Mencken's The American Mercury, Samuel Johnson's The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia, Alexandre Dumas, Edgar Allan Poe, Walter Scott, and Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Forty rejected stories and three years later, according to anthologist Jim Stephens, he sold his first story, "Bat's Belfry", to Weird Tales magazine. Derleth wrote throughout his four years at the University of Wisconsin, where he received a B.A. in 1930. During this time he also served briefly as associate editor of Minneapolisbased Fawcett Publications Mystic Magazine. Returning to Sauk City in the summer of 1931, Derleth work
ed in a local canning factory and collaborated with childhood friend Mark Schorer later Chairman of the University of California, Berkeley English Department. They rented a cabin, writing Gothic and other horror stories and selling them to Weird Tales magazine. Derleth won a place on the O'Brien Roll of Honor for Five Alone, published in Place of Hawks, but was first found in Pagany magazine. As a result of his early work on the Sac Prairie Saga, Derleth was awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship; his sponsors were Helen C. White, Nobel Prizewinning novelist Sinclair Lewis and poet Edgar Lee Masters of Spoon River Anthology fame. In the mid1930s, Derleth organized a Ranger's Club for young people, served as clerk and president of the local school board, served as a parole officer, organized a local men's club and a parentteacher association. He also lectured in American regional literature at the University of Wisconsin and was a contributing editor of Outdoors Magazine. With longtime friend Donald
Wandrei, Derleth in 1939 founded Arkham House. Its initial objective was to publish the works of H. P. Lovecraft, with whom Derleth had corresponded since his teenage years. At the same time, he began teaching a course in American Regional Literature at the University of Wisconsin. In 1941, he became literary editor of The Capital Times newspaper in Madison, a post he held until his resignation in 1960. His hobbies included fencing, swimming, chess, philately and comicstrips Derleth reportedly used the funding from his Guggenheim Fellowship to bind his comic book collection, most recently valued in the millions of dollars, rather than to travel abroad as the award intended.. Derleth's true avocation, however, was hiking the terrain of his native Wisconsin lands, and observing and recording nature with an expert eye. Derleth once wrote of his writing methods, "I write very swiftly, from 750,000 to a million words yearly, very little of it pulp material." In 1948, he was elected president of the Associated
Fantasy Publishers at the 6th World Science Fiction Convention in Toronto. He was married April 6, 1953, to Sandra Evelyn Winters. They divorced six years later. Derleth retained custody of the couple's two children, April Rose and Walden William. April earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of WisconsinMadison in 1977. She became majority stockholder, President, and CEO of Arkham House in 1994. She remained in that capacity until her death. She was known in the community as a naturalist and humanitarian. April died on March 21, 2011. In 1960, Derleth began editing and publishing a magazine called Hawk and Whippoorwill, dedicated to poems of man and nature. Derleth died of a heart attack on July 4, 1971, and is buried in St. Aloysius Cemetery in Sauk City. The U.S. 12 bridge over the Wisconsin River is named in his honor. Derleth was Roman Catholic. Career Derleth wrote more than 150 short stories and more than 100 books during his lifetime. The Sac Prairie Saga Derleth wrote
an expansive series of novels, short stories, journals, poems, and other works about Sac Prairie whose prototype is Sauk City. Derleth intended this series to comprise up to 50 novels telling the projected lifestory of the region from the 19th century onwards, with analogies to Balzac's Human Comedy and Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. This, and other early work by Derleth, made him a wellknown figure among the regional literary figures of his time early Pulitzer Prize winners Hamlin Garland and Zona Gale, as well as Sinclair Lewis, the last both an admirer and critic of Derleth. As Edward Wagenknecht wrote in Cavalcade of the American Novel, "What Mr. Derleth has that is lacking...in modern novelists generally, is a country. He belongs. He writes of a land and a people that are bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. In his fictional world, there is a unity much deeper and more fundamental than anything that can be conferred by an ideology. It is clear, too, that he did not get the best, and most fict
ionally useful, part of his background material from research in the library; like Scott, in his Border novels, he gives, rather, the impression of having drunk it in with his mother's milk." Jim Stephens, editor of An August Derleth Reader, 1992, argues "what Derleth accomplished....was to gather a Wisconsin mythos which gave respect to the ancient fundament of our contemporary life." The author inaugurated the Sac Prairie Saga with four novellas comprising Place of Hawks, published by Loring Mussey in 1935. At publication, The Detroit News wrote "Certainly with this book Mr. Derleth may be added to the American writers of distinction." Derleth's first novel, Still is the Summer Night, was published two years later by the famous Charles Scribners' editor Maxwell Perkins, and was the second in his Sac Prairie Saga. Village Year, the first in a series of journals meditations on nature, Midwestern village American life, and more was published in 1941 to praise from The New York Times Book Review "A book
of instant sensitive responsiveness...recreates its scene with acuteness and beauty, and makes an unusual contribution to the Americana of the present day." The New York Herald Tribune observed that "Derleth...deepens the value of his village setting by presenting in full the enduring natural background; with the people projected against this, the writing comes to have the quality of an old Flemish picture, humanity lively and amusing and loveable in the foreground and nature magnificent beyond." James Grey, writing in the St. Louis Dispatch concluded, "Derleth has achieved a kind of prose equivalent of the Spoon River Anthology." In the same year, Evening in Spring was published by Charles Scribners Sons. This work Derleth considered among his finest. What The Milwaukee Journal called "this beautiful little love story", is an autobiographical novel of first love beset by smalltown religious bigotry. The work received critical praise The New Yorker considered it a story told "with tenderness and charm", whi
le the Chicago Tribune concluded "It's as though he turned back the pages of an old diary and told, with rekindled emotion, of the pangs of pain and the sharp, clear sweetness of a boy's first love." Helen Constance White, wrote in The Capital Times that it was "...the best articulated, the most fully disciplined of his stories." These were followed in 1943 with Shadow of Night, a Scribners' novel of which The Chicago Sun wrote "Structurally it has the perfection of a carved jewel...A psychological novel of the first order, and an adventure tale that is unique and inspiriting." In November 1945, however, Derleth's work was attacked by his onetime admirer and mentor, Sinclair Lewis. Writing in Esquire, Lewis observed, "It is a proof of Mr. Derleth's merit that he makes one want to make the journey and see his particular Avalon The Wisconsin River shining among its islands, and the castles of Baron Pierneau and Hercules Dousman. He is a champion and a justification of regionalism. Yet he is also a burly, b
ounding, bustling, selfconfident, opinionated, and highlysweatered young man with faults so grievous that a melancholy perusal of them may be of more value to apprentices than a study of his serious virtues. If he could ever be persuaded that he isn't half as good as he thinks he is, if he would learn the art of sitting still and using a blue pencil, he might become twice as good as he thinks he is which would about rank him with Homer." Derleth goodhumoredly reprinted the criticism along with a photograph of himself sans sweater, on the back cover of his 1948 country journal Village Daybook. A lighter side to the Sac Prairie Saga is a series of quasiautobiographical short stories known as the "Gus Elker Stories", amusing tales of country life that Peter Ruber, Derleth's last editor, said were "...models of construction and...fused with some of the most memorable characters in American literature." Most were written between 1934 and the late 1940s, though the last, "Tail of the Dog", was published in 1959
and won the Scholastic Magazine short story award for the year. The series was collected and republished in Country Matters in 1996. Walden West, published in 1961, is considered by many Derleth's finest work. This prose meditation is built out of the same fundamental material as the series of Sac Prairie journals, but is organized around three themes "the persistence of memory...the sounds and odors of the country...and Thoreau's observation that the 'mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.'" A blend of nature writing, philosophic musings, and careful observation of the people and place of "Sac Prairie." Of this work, George Vukelich, author of "North Country Notebook", writes "Derleth's Walden West is...the equal of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg,Ohio, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, and Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology." This was followed eight years later by Return to Walden West, a work of similar quality, but with a more noticeable environmentalist edge to the writing, notes critic Norbert Bl
ei. A close literary relative of the Sac Prairie Saga was Derleth's Wisconsin Saga, which comprises several historical novels. Detective and mystery fiction Detective fiction represented another substantial body of Derleth's work. Most notable among this work was a series of 70 stories in affectionate pastiche of Sherlock Holmes, whose creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he admired greatly. These included one published novel as well Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey. The series features a Sherlock Holmesstyled British detective named Solar Pons, of 7B Praed Street in London. The series was greatly admired by such notable writers and critics of mystery and detective fiction as Ellery Queen Frederic Dannay, Anthony Boucher, Vincent Starrett and Howard Haycraft. In his 1944 volume The Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes, Ellery Queen wrote of Derleth's The Norcross Riddle, an early Pons story "How many budding authors, not even old enough to vote, could have captured the spirit and atmosphere with as much fidelity?" Quee
n adds, "...and his choice of the euphonic Solar Pons is an appealing addition to the fascinating lore of Sherlockian nomenclature." Vincent Starrett, in his foreword to the 1964 edition of The Casebook of Solar Pons, wrote that the series is "...as sparkling a galaxy of Sherlockian pastiches as we have had since the canonical entertainments came to an end." Despite close similarities to Doyle's creation, Pons lived in the postWorld War I era, in the decades of the 1920s and 1930s. Though Derleth never wrote a Pons novel to equal The Hound of the Baskervilles, editor Peter Ruber wrote "...Derleth produced more than a few Solar Pons stories almost as good as Sir Arthur's, and many that had better plot construction." Although these stories were a form of diversion for Derleth, Ruber, who edited The Original Text Solar Pons Omnibus Edition 2000, argued "Because the stories were generally of such high quality, they ought to be assessed on their own merits as a unique contribution in the annals of mystery ficti
on, rather than suffering comparison as one of the endless imitators of Sherlock Holmes." Some of the stories were selfpublished, through a new imprint called "Mycroft Moran", an appellation of humorous significance to Holmesian scholars. For approximately a decade, an active supporting group was the Praed Street Irregulars, patterned after the Baker Street Irregulars. In 1946, Conan Doyle's two sons made some attempts to force Derleth to cease publishing the Solar Pons series, but the efforts were unsuccessful and eventually withdrawn. Derleth's mystery and detective fiction also included a series of works set in Sac Prairie and featuring Judge Peck as the central character. Youth and children's fiction Derleth wrote many and varied children's works, including biographies meant to introduce younger readers to explorer Jacques Marquette, as well as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Arguably most important among his works for younger readers, however, is the Steve and Sim Mystery Series, also
known as the Mill Creek Irregulars series. The tenvolume series, published between 1958 and 1970, is set in Sac Prairie of the 1920s and can thus be considered in its own right a part of the Sac Prairie Saga, as well as an extension of Derleth's body of mystery fiction. Robert Hood, writing in the New York Times said "Steve and Sim, the major characters, are twentiethcentury cousins of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer; Derleth's minor characters, little gems of comic drawing." The first novel in the series, The Moon Tenders, does, in fact, involve a rafting adventure down the Wisconsin River, which led regional writer Jesse Stuart to suggest the novel was one that "older people might read to recapture the spirit and dream of youth." The connection to the Sac Prairie Saga was noted by the Chicago Tribune "Once again a small midwest community in 1920s is depicted with perception, skill, and dry humor." Arkham House and the "Cthulhu Mythos" Derleth was a correspondent and friend of H. P. Lovecraft when Lovecraft w
rote about "le Comte d'Erlette" in his fiction, it was in homage to Derleth. Derleth invented the term "Cthulhu Mythos" to describe the fictional universe depicted in the series of stories shared by Lovecraft and other writers in his circle. When Lovecraft died in 1937, Derleth and Donald Wandrei assembled a collection of Lovecraft's stories and tried to get them published. Existing publishers showed little interest, so Derleth and Wandrei founded Arkham House in 1939 for that purpose. The name of the company derived from Lovecraft's fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, which features in many of his stories. In 1939, Arkham House published The Outsider and Others, a huge collection that contained most of Lovecraft's known short stories. Derleth and Wandrei soon expanded Arkham House and began a regular publishing schedule after its second book, Someone in the Dark, a collection of some of Derleth's own horror stories, was published in 1941. Following Lovecraft's death, Derleth wrote a number of storie
s based on fragments and notes left by Lovecraft. These were published in Weird Tales and later in book form, under the byline "H. P. Lovecraft and August Derleth", with Derleth calling himself a "posthumous collaborator." This practice has raised objections in some quarters that Derleth simply used Lovecraft's name to market what was essentially his own fiction; S. T. Joshi refers to the "posthumous collaborations" as marking the beginning of "perhaps the most disreputable phase of Derleth's activities". Dirk W. Mosig, S. T. Joshi, and Richard L. Tierney were dissatisfied with Derleth's invention of the term Cthulhu Mythos Lovecraft himself used YogSothothery and his presentation of Lovecraft's fiction as having an overall pattern reflecting Derleth's own Christian world view, which they contrast with Lovecraft's depiction of an amoral universe. However, Robert M. Price points out that while Derleth's tales are distinct from Lovecraft's in their use of hope and his depiction of a struggle between good and e
vil, nevertheless the basis of Derlerth's systemization are found in Lovecraft. He also suggests that the differences can be overstated Derleth was more optimistic than Lovecraft in his conception of the Mythos, but we are dealing with a difference more of degree than kind. There are indeed tales wherein Derleth's protagonists get off scotfree like "The Shadow in the Attic", "Witches' Hollow", or "The Shuttered Room", but often the hero is doomed e.g., "The House in the Valley", "The Peabody Heritage", "Something in Wood", as in Lovecraft. And it must be remembered that an occasional Lovecraftian hero does manage to overcome the odds, e.g., in "The Horror in the Museum", "The Shunned House", and 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward'. Derleth also treated Lovecraft's Great Old Ones as representatives of elemental forces, creating new fictional entities to flesh out this framework. Such debates aside, Derleth's founding of Arkham House and his successful effort to rescue Lovecraft from literary oblivion are wid
ely acknowledged by practitioners in the horror field as seminal events in the field. For instance, Ramsey Campbell has acknowledged Derleth's encouragement and guidance during the early part of his own writing career, and Kirby McCauley has cited Derleth and Arkham House as an inspiration for his own anthology Dark Forces. Arkham House and Derleth published Dark Carnival, the first book by Ray Bradbury, as well. Brian Lumley cites the importance of Derleth to his own Lovecraftian work, and contends in a 2009 introduction to Derleth's work that he was "...one of the first, finest, and most discerning editors and publishers of macabre fiction." Important as was Derleth's work to rescue H.P. Lovecraft from literary obscurity at the time of Lovecraft's death, Derleth also built a body of horror and spectral fiction of his own; still frequently anthologized. The best of this work, recently reprinted in four volumes of short stories most of which were originally published in Weird Tales, illustrates Derleth's o
riginal abilities in the genre. While Derleth considered his work in this genre less important than his most serious literary efforts, the compilers of these four anthologies, including Ramsey Campbell, note that the stories still resonate after more than 50 years. In 2009, The Library of America selected Derleth's story The Panelled Room for inclusion in its twocentury retrospective of American Fantastic Tales. Other works Derleth also wrote many historical novels, as part of both the Sac Prairie Saga and the Wisconsin Saga. He also wrote history; arguably most notable among these was The Wisconsin River of a Thousand Isles, published in 1942. The work was one in a series entitled "The Rivers of America", conceived by writer Constance Lindsay Skinner in the Great Depression as a series that would connect Americans to their heritage through the history of the great rivers of the nation. Skinner wanted the series to be written by artists, not academicians. Derleth, while not a trained historian, was, accord
ing to former Wisconsin state historian William F. Thompson, "...a very competent regional historian who based his historical writing upon research in the primary documents and who regularly sought the help of professionals... ." In the foreword to the 1985 reissue of the work by The University of Wisconsin Press, Thompson concluded "No other writer, of whatever background or training, knew and understood his particular 'corner of the earth' better than August Derleth." Additionally, Derleth wrote a number of volumes of poetry. Three of his collections Rind of Earth 1942, Selected Poems 1944, and The Edge of Night 1945 were published by the Decker Press, which also printed the work of other Midwestern poets such as Edgar Lee Masters. Derleth was also the author of several biographies of other writers, including Zona Gale, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. He also wrote introductions to several collections of classic early 20th century comics, such as Buster Brown, Little Nemo in Slumberland,
and Katzenjammer Kids, as well as a book of children's poetry entitled A Boy's Way, and the foreword to Tales from an Indian Lodge by Phebe Jewell Nichols. Derleth also wrote under the noms de plume Stephen Grendon, Kenyon Holmes and Tally Mason. Derleth's papers were donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. Bibliography Awards O'Brien Roll of Honour for short story, 1933 Guggenheim fellow, 1938 See also August Derleth Award List of authors of new Sherlock Holmes stories List of horror fiction authors List of people from Wisconsin Mark Schorer Sherlock Holmes pastiches Notes References Meudt, Edna. 'August Derleth "A simple, honorable man",' Wisconsin Academy Review, 192 Summer, 1972 811. Schorer, Mark. "An Appraisal of the Work of August Derleth", The Capital Times, July 9, 1971. Further reading Robert Bloch. "Two Great Editors". Is No 4 Oct 1971. Reprint in Bloch's Out of My Head. Cambridge MA NESFA Press, 1986, 7179. Lin Carter. "A Day in Derleth Countr
y". Is No 4 Oct 1971. Reprint in Crypt of Cthulhu 1, No 6. John Howard. "The Ghosts of Sauk County". All Hallows 18 1998; in Howard's Touchstones Essays on the Fantastic. Staffordshire UK Alchemy Press, 2014. David E. Schultz and S.T. Joshi eds. Eccentric, Impractical Devils The Letters of August Derleth and Clark Ashton Smith. NY Hippocampus Press, 2020. External links The August Derleth Society A biography August Derleth Bibliography Works Online catalog of Derleth's collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society 1909 births 1971 deaths University of WisconsinMadison alumni American Catholics American short story writers American mystery writers American speculative fiction editors 20thcentury American novelists Cthulhu Mythos writers American horror writers People from Sauk City, Wisconsin Novelists from Wisconsin Science fiction editors Solar Pons Anthologists American male novelists American male short story writers Catholics from Wisconsin 20thcentury Roman Catholics Writers from W
isconsin Weird fiction writers 20thcentury American male writers
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries from west to east France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. The Alpine arch generally extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc spans the FrenchItalian border, and at is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than . The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as i
bex live in the higher peaks to elevations of , and plants such as Edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the AustrianItalian border in 1991. By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tne culture was well established. Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks. The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. The traditional culture of farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still exists in Alpine villages, although the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expand
ed greatly after World War II to become the dominant industry by the end of the century. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. At present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors. Etymology and toponymy The English word Alps comes from the Latin Alpes. The Latin word Alpes could possibly come from the adjective albus "white", or could possibly come from the Greek goddess Alphito, whose name is related to alphita, the "white flour"; alphos, a dull white leprosy; and finally the ProtoIndoEuropean word albs. Similarly, the river god Alpheus is also supposed to derive from the Greek alphos and means whitish. In his commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil, the late fourthcentury grammarian Maurus Servius Honoratus says that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a preIndoEuropean word alb "hill"; "Albania" is a related de
rivation. Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, "Albania" was a name for the eastern Caucasus, while in the English languages "Albania" or "Albany" was occasionally used as a name for Scotland, although it is more likely derived from the Latin word albus, the color white. In modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a high mountain pasture, typically near or above the tree line, where cows and other livestock are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where huts and hay barns can be found, sometimes constituting tiny hamlets. Therefore, the term "the Alps", as a reference to the mountains, is a misnomer. The term for the mountain peaks varies by nation and language words such as Horn, Kogel, Kopf, Gipfel, Spitze, Stock, and Berg are used in Germanspeaking regions;
Mont, Pic, Tte, Pointe, Dent, Roche, and Aiguille in Frenchspeaking regions; and Monte, Picco, Corno, Punta, Pizzo, or Cima in Italianspeaking regions. Geography The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in an arc curved line from east to west and is in width. The mean height of the mountain peaks is . The range stretches from the Mediterranean Sea north above the Po basin, extending through France from Grenoble, and stretching eastward through mid and southern Switzerland. The range continues onward toward Vienna, Austria, and east to the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. To the south it dips into northern Italy and to the north extends to the southern border of Bavaria in Germany. In areas like Chiasso, Switzerland, and Allgu, Bavaria, the demarcation between the mountain range and the flatlands are clear; in other places such as Geneva, the demarcation is less clear. The countries with the greatest alpine territory are Austria 28.7 of the total area, Italy 27.2, Franc
e 21.4 and Switzerland 13.2. The highest portion of the range is divided by the glacial trough of the Rhne valley, from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa on the southern side, and the Bernese Alps on the northern. The peaks in the easterly portion of the range, in Austria and Slovenia, are smaller than those in the central and western portions. The variances in nomenclature in the region spanned by the Alps makes classification of the mountains and subregions difficult, but a general classification is that of the Eastern Alps and Western Alps with the divide between the two occurring in eastern Switzerland according to geologist Stefan Schmid, near the Splgen Pass. The highest peaks of the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, respectively, are Mont Blanc, at and Piz Bernina at . The secondhighest major peaks are Monte Rosa at and Ortler, at , respectively. Series of lower mountain ranges run parallel to the main chain of the Alps, including the French Prealps in France and the Jura Mountains in Sw
itzerland and France. The secondary chain of the Alps follows the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald, passing over many of the highest and most wellknown peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the northwest and then, near the Colle della Maddalena, to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain heads approximately eastnortheast, a heading it follows until its end near Vienna. The northeast end of the Alpine arc directly on the Danube, which flows into the Black Sea, is the Leopoldsberg near Vienna. In contrast, the southeastern part of the Alps ends on the Adriatic Sea in the area around Trieste towards Duino and Barcola. Passes The Alps have been crossed for war and commerce, and by pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing routes by road, train or foot are known as passes, and usually consist of depressions in the mountains in which a valley leads from the plains and hilly premountainous zones. I
n the medieval period hospices were established by religious orders at the summits of many of the main passes. The most important passes are the Col de l'Iseran the highest, the Col Agnel, the Brenner Pass, the MontCenis, the Great St. Bernard Pass, the Col de Tende, the Gotthard Pass, the Semmering Pass, the Simplon Pass, and the Stelvio Pass. Crossing the ItalianAustrian border, the Brenner Pass separates the tztal Alps and Zillertal Alps and has been in use as a trading route since the 14th century. The lowest of the Alpine passes at , the Semmering crosses from Lower Austria to Styria; since the 12th century when a hospice was built there, it has seen continuous use. A railroad with a tunnel long was built along the route of the pass in the mid19th century. With a summit of , the Great St. Bernard Pass is one of the highest in the Alps, crossing the ItalianSwiss border east of the Pennine Alps along the flanks of Mont Blanc. The pass was used by Napoleon Bonaparte to cross 40,000 troops in 1800. The Mo
nt Cenis pass has been a major commercial and military road between Western Europe and Italy. The pass was crossed by many troops on their way to the Italian peninsula. From Constantine I, Pepin the Short and Charlemagne to Henry IV, Napolon and more recently the German Gebirgsjgers during World War II. Now the pass has been supplanted by the Frjus Highway Tunnel opened 1980 and Rail Tunnel opened 1871. The Saint Gotthard Pass crosses from Central Switzerland to Ticino; in 1882 the Saint Gotthard Railway Tunnel was opened connecting Lucerne in Switzerland, with Milan in Italy. 98 years later followed Gotthard Road Tunnel long connecting the A2 motorway in Gschenen on the north side with Airolo on the south side, exactly like the railway tunnel. On 1 June 2016 the world's longest railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel was opened, which connects Erstfeld in canton of Uri with Bodio in canton of Ticino by two single tubes of . It is the first tunnel that traverses the Alps on a flat route. From 11 Dece
mber 2016, it has been part of the regular railway timetable and used hourly as standard ride between BaselLucerneZurich and BellinzonaLuganoMilan. The highest pass in the alps is the col de l'Iseran in Savoy France at , followed by the Stelvio Pass in northern Italy at ; the road was built in the 1820s. Highest mountains The Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme UIAA has defined a list of 82 "official" Alpine summits that reach at least . The list includes not only mountains, but also subpeaks with little prominence that are considered important mountaineering objectives. Below are listed the 29 "fourthousanders" with at least of prominence. While Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786 and the Jungfrau in 1811, most of the Alpine fourthousanders were climbed during the second half of the 19th century, notably Piz Bernina 1850, the Dom 1858, the Grand Combin 1859, the Weisshorn 1861 and the Barre des crins 1864; the ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marked the end of the golden age of alpinism.
Karl Blodig 18591956 was among the first to successfully climb all the major 4,000 m peaks. He completed his series of ascents in 1911. Many of the big Alpine threethousanders were climbed in the early 19th century, notably the Grossglockner 1800 and the Ortler 1804, although some of them were climbed only much later, such at Mont Pelvoux 1848, Monte Viso 1861 and La Meije 1877. The first British Mont Blanc ascent was in 1788; the first female ascent in 1819. By the mid1850s Swiss mountaineers had ascended most of the peaks and were eagerly sought as mountain guides. Edward Whymper reached the top of the Matterhorn in 1865 after seven attempts, and in 1938 the last of the six great north faces of the Alps was climbed with the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand north face of the Eiger. Geology and orogeny Important geological concepts were established as naturalists began studying the rock formations of the Alps in the 18th century. In the mid19th century the nowdefunct theory of geosynclines was used to
explain the presence of "folded" mountain chains but by the mid20th century the theory of plate tectonics became widely accepted. The formation of the Alps the Alpine orogeny was an episodic process that began about 300 million years ago. In the Paleozoic Era the Pangaean supercontinent consisted of a single tectonic plate; it broke into separate plates during the Mesozoic Era and the Tethys sea developed between Laurasia and Gondwana during the Jurassic Period. The Tethys was later squeezed between colliding plates causing the formation of mountain ranges called the Alpide belt, from Gibraltar through the Himalayas to Indonesiaa process that began at the end of the Mesozoic and continues into the present. The formation of the Alps was a segment of this orogenic process, caused by the collision between the African and the Eurasian plates that began in the late Cretaceous Period. Under extreme compressive stresses and pressure, marine sedimentary rocks were uplifted, creating characteristic recumbent folds,
or nappes, and thrust faults. As the rising peaks underwent erosion, a layer of marine flysch sediments was deposited in the foreland basin, and the sediments became involved in younger nappes folds as the orogeny progressed. Coarse sediments from the continual uplift and erosion were later deposited in foreland areas as molasse. The molasse regions in Switzerland and Bavaria were welldeveloped and saw further upthrusting of flysch. The Alpine orogeny occurred in ongoing cycles through to the Paleogene causing differences in nappe structures, with a latestage orogeny causing the development of the Jura Mountains. A series of tectonic events in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods caused different paleogeographic regions. The Alps are subdivided by different lithology rock composition and nappe structure according to the orogenic events that affected them. The geological subdivision differentiates the Western, Eastern Alps and Southern Alps the Helveticum in the north, the Penninicum and Austroalpine
system in the centre and, south of the Periadriatic Seam, the Southern Alpine system. According to geologist Stefan Schmid, because the Western Alps underwent a metamorphic event in the Cenozoic Era while the Austroalpine peaks underwent an event in the Cretaceous Period, the two areas show distinct differences in nappe formations. Flysch deposits in the Southern Alps of Lombardy probably occurred in the Cretaceous or later. Peaks in France, Italy and Switzerland lie in the "Houillire zone", which consists of basement with sediments from the Mesozoic Era. High "massifs" with external sedimentary cover are more common in the Western Alps and were affected by Neogene Period thinskinned thrusting whereas the Eastern Alps have comparatively few high peaked massifs. Similarly the peaks in eastern Switzerland extending to western Austria Helvetic nappes consist of thinskinned sedimentary folding that detached from former basement rock. In simple terms, the structure of the Alps consists of layers of rock of Eur
opean, African and oceanic Tethyan origin. The bottom nappe structure is of continental European origin, above which are stacked marine sediment nappes, topped off by nappes derived from the African plate. The Matterhorn is an example of the ongoing orogeny and shows evidence of great folding. The tip of the mountain consists of gneisses from the African plate; the base of the peak, below the glaciated area, consists of European basement rock. The sequence of Tethyan marine sediments and their oceanic basement is sandwiched between rock derived from the African and European plates. The core regions of the Alpine orogenic belt have been folded and fractured in such a manner that erosion created the characteristic steep vertical peaks of the Swiss Alps that rise seemingly straight out of the foreland areas. Peaks such as Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and high peaks in the Pennine Alps, the Brianonnais, and Hohe Tauern consist of layers of rock from the various orogenies including exposures of basement rock. Due
to the everpresent geologic instability, earthquakes continue in the Alps to this day. Typically, the largest earthquakes in the alps have been between magnitude 6 and 7 on the Richter scale. Minerals The Alps are a source of minerals that have been mined for thousands of years. In the 8th to 6th centuries BC during the Hallstatt culture, Celtic tribes mined copper; later the Romans mined gold for coins in the Bad Gastein area. Erzberg in Styria furnishes highquality iron ore for the steel industry. Crystals, such as cinnabar, amethyst, and quartz, are found throughout much of the Alpine region. The cinnabar deposits in Slovenia are a notable source of cinnabar pigments. Alpine crystals have been studied and collected for hundreds of years, and began to be classified in the 18th century. Leonhard Euler studied the shapes of crystals, and by the 19th century crystal hunting was common in Alpine regions. David Friedrich Wiser amassed a collection of 8000 crystals that he studied and documented. In the 20th
century Robert Parker wrote a wellknown work about the rock crystals of the Swiss Alps; at the same period a commission was established to control and standardize the naming of Alpine minerals. Glaciers In the Miocene Epoch the mountains underwent severe erosion because of glaciation, which was noted in the mid19th century by naturalist Louis Agassiz who presented a paper proclaiming the Alps were covered in ice at various intervalsa theory he formed when studying rocks near his Neuchtel home which he believed originated to the west in the Bernese Oberland. Because of his work he came to be known as the "father of the iceage concept" although other naturalists before him put forth similar ideas. Agassiz studied glacier movement in the 1840s at the Unteraar Glacier where he found the glacier moved per year, more rapidly in the middle than at the edges. His work was continued by other scientists and now a permanent laboratory exists inside a glacier under the Jungfraujoch, devoted exclusively to the study
of Alpine glaciers. Glaciers pick up rocks and sediment with them as they flow. This causes erosion and the formation of valleys over time. The Inn valley is an example of a valley carved by glaciers during the ice ages with a typical terraced structure caused by erosion. Eroded rocks from the most recent ice age lie at the bottom of the valley while the top of the valley consists of erosion from earlier ice ages. Glacial valleys have characteristically steep walls reliefs; valleys with lower reliefs and talus slopes are remnants of glacial troughs or previously infilled valleys. Moraines, piles of rock picked up during the movement of the glacier, accumulate at edges, centre and the terminus of glaciers. Alpine glaciers can be straight rivers of ice, long sweeping rivers, spread in a fanlike shape Piedmont glaciers, and curtains of ice that hang from vertical slopes of the mountain peaks. The stress of the movement causes the ice to break and crack loudly, perhaps explaining why the mountains were believed
to be home to dragons in the medieval period. The cracking creates unpredictable and dangerous crevasses, often invisible under new snowfall, which cause the greatest danger to mountaineers. Glaciers end in ice caves the Rhne Glacier, by trailing into a lake or river, or by shedding snowmelt on a meadow. Sometimes a piece of glacier will detach or break resulting in flooding, property damage and loss of life. High levels of precipitation cause the glaciers to descend to permafrost levels in some areas whereas in other, more arid regions, glaciers remain above about the level. The of the Alps covered by glaciers in 1876 had shrunk to by 1973, resulting in decreased river runoff levels. Forty percent of the glaciation in Austria has disappeared since 1850, and 30 of that in Switzerland. Rivers and lakes The Alps provide lowland Europe with drinking water, irrigation, and hydroelectric power. Although the area is only about 11 of the surface area of Europe, the Alps provide up to 90 of water to lowland
Europe, particularly to arid areas and during the summer months. Cities such as Milan depend on 80 of water from Alpine runoff. Water from the rivers is used in at least 550 hydroelectricity power plants, considering only those producing at least 10MW of electricity. Major European rivers flow from the Alps, such as the Rhine, the Rhne, the Inn, and the Po, all of which have headwaters in the Alps and flow into neighbouring countries, finally emptying into the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. Other rivers such as the Danube have major tributaries flowing into them that originate in the Alps. The Rhne is second to the Nile as a freshwater source to the Mediterranean Sea; the river begins as glacial meltwater, flows into Lake Geneva, and from there to France where one of its uses is to cool nuclear power plants. The Rhine originates in a area in Switzerland and represents almost 60 of water exported from the country. Tributary valleys, some of which are complicated, chan
nel water to the main valleys which can experience flooding during the snowmelt season when rapid runoff causes debris torrents and swollen rivers. The rivers form lakes, such as Lake Geneva, a crescentshaped lake crossing the Swiss border with Lausanne on the Swiss side and the town of EvianlesBains on the French side. In Germany, the medieval St. Bartholomew's chapel was built on the south side of the Knigssee, accessible only by boat or by climbing over the abutting peaks. Additionally, the Alps have led to the creation of large lakes in Italy. For instance, the Sarca, the primary inflow of Lake Garda, originates in the Italian Alps. The Italian Lakes are a popular tourist destination since the Roman Era for their mild climate. Scientists have been studying the impact of climate change and water use. For example, each year more water is diverted from rivers for snowmaking in the ski resorts, the effect of which is yet unknown. Furthermore, the decrease of glaciated areas combined with a succession of wi
nters with lowerthanexpected precipitation may have a future impact on the rivers in the Alps as well as an effect on the water availability to the lowlands. Climate The Alps are a classic example of what happens when a temperate area at lower altitude gives way to higherelevation terrain. Elevations around the world that have cold climates similar to those of the polar regions have been called Alpine. A rise from sea level into the upper regions of the atmosphere causes the temperature to decrease see adiabatic lapse rate. The effect of mountain chains on prevailing winds is to carry warm air belonging to the lower region into an upper zone, where it expands in volume at the cost of a proportionate loss of temperature, often accompanied by precipitation in the form of snow or rain. The height of the Alps is sufficient to divide the weather patterns in Europe into a wet north and a dry south because moisture is sucked from the air as it flows over the high peaks. The severe weather in the Alps has been st
udied since the 18th century; particularly the weather patterns such as the seasonal foehn wind. Numerous weather stations were placed in the mountains early in the early 20th century, providing continuous data for climatologists. Some of the valleys are quite arid such as the Aosta valley in Italy, the Maurienne in France, the Valais in Switzerland, and northern Tyrol. The areas that are not arid and receive high precipitation experience periodic flooding from rapid snowmelt and runoff. The mean precipitation in the Alps ranges from a low of per year to per year, with the higher levels occurring at high altitudes. At altitudes between , snowfall begins in November and accumulates through to April or May when the melt begins. Snow lines vary from , above which the snow is permanent and the temperatures hover around the freezing point even during July and August. Highwater levels in streams and rivers peak in June and July when the snow is still melting at the higher altitudes. The Alps are split into five
climatic zones, each with different vegetation. The climate, plant life and animal life vary among the different sections or zones of the mountains. The lowest zone is the colline zone, which exists between , depending on the location. The montane zone extends from , followed by the subAlpine zone from . The Alpine zone, extending from tree line to snow line, is followed by the glacial zone, which covers the glaciated areas of the mountain. Climatic conditions show variances within the same zones; for example, weather conditions at the head of a mountain valley, extending directly from the peaks, are colder and more severe than those at the mouth of a valley which tend to be less severe and receive less snowfall. Various models of climate change have been projected into the 22nd century for the Alps, with an expectation that a trend toward increased temperatures will have an effect on snowfall, snowpack, glaciation, and river runoff. Significant changes, of both natural and anthropogenic origins, have alrea
dy been diagnosed from observations. Ecology Flora Thirteen thousand species of plants have been identified in the Alpine regions. Alpine plants are grouped by habitat and soil type which can be limestone or noncalcareous. The habitats range from meadows, bogs, woodland deciduous and coniferous areas to soilless scree and moraines, and rock faces and ridges. A natural vegetation limit with altitude is given by the presence of the chief deciduous treesoak, beech, ash and sycamore maple. These do not reach exactly to the same elevation, nor are they often found growing together; but their upper limit corresponds accurately enough to the change from a temperate to a colder climate that is further proved by a change in the presence of wild herbaceous vegetation. This limit usually lies about above the sea on the north side of the Alps, but on the southern slopes it often rises to , sometimes even to . Above the forestry, there is often a band of short pine trees Pinus mugo, which is in turn superseded by Al
penrosen, dwarf shrubs, typically Rhododendron ferrugineum on acid soils or Rhododendron hirsutum on alkaline soils. Although the Alpenrose prefers acidic soil, the plants are found throughout the region. Above the tree line is the area defined as "alpine" where in the alpine meadow plants are found that have adapted well to harsh conditions of cold temperatures, aridity, and high altitudes. The alpine area fluctuates greatly because of regional fluctuations in tree lines. Alpine plants such as the Alpine gentian grow in abundance in areas such as the meadows above the Lauterbrunnental. Gentians are named after the Illyrian king Gentius, and 40 species of the earlyspring blooming flower grow in the Alps, in a range of . Writing about the gentians in Switzerland D. H. Lawrence described them as "darkening the daytime, torchlike with the smoking blueness of Pluto's gloom." Gentians tend to "appear" repeatedly as the spring blooming takes place at progressively later dates, moving from the lower altitude to the
higher altitude meadows where the snow melts much later than in the valleys. On the highest rocky ledges the spring flowers bloom in the summer. At these higher altitudes, the plants tend to form isolated cushions. In the Alps, several species of flowering plants have been recorded above , including Ranunculus glacialis, Androsace alpina and Saxifraga biflora. Eritrichium nanum, commonly known as the King of the Alps, is the most elusive of the alpine flowers, growing on rocky ridges at . Perhaps the best known of the alpine plants is Edelweiss which grows in rocky areas and can be found at altitudes as low as and as high as . The plants that grow at the highest altitudes have adapted to conditions by specialization such as growing in rock screes that give protection from winds. The extreme and stressful climatic conditions give way to the growth of plant species with secondary metabolites important for medicinal purposes. Origanum vulgare, Prunella vulgaris, Solanum nigrum and Urtica dioica are some of t
he more useful medicinal species found in the Alps. Human interference has nearly exterminated the trees in many areas, and, except for the beech forests of the Austrian Alps, forests of deciduous trees are rarely found after the extreme deforestation between the 17th and 19th centuries. The vegetation has changed since the second half of the 20th century, as the high alpine meadows cease to be harvested for hay or used for grazing which eventually might result in a regrowth of forest. In some areas, the modern practice of building ski runs by mechanical means has destroyed the underlying tundra from which the plant life cannot recover during the nonskiing months, whereas areas that still practice a natural piste type of ski slope building preserve the fragile underlayers. Fauna The Alps are a habitat for 30,000 species of wildlife, ranging from the tiniest snow fleas to brown bears, many of which have made adaptations to the harsh cold conditions and high altitudes to the point that some only survive in s
pecific microclimates either directly above or below the snow line. The largest mammal to live in the highest altitudes are the alpine ibex, which have been sighted as high as . The ibex live in caves and descend to eat the succulent alpine grasses. Classified as antelopes, chamois are smaller than ibex and found throughout the Alps, living above the tree line and are common in the entire alpine range. Areas of the eastern Alps are still home to brown bears. In Switzerland the canton of Bern was named for the bears but the last bear is recorded as having been killed in 1792 above Kleine Scheidegg by three hunters from Grindelwald. Many rodents such as voles live underground. Marmots live almost exclusively above the tree line as high as . They hibernate in large groups to provide warmth, and can be found in all areas of the Alps, in large colonies they build beneath the alpine pastures. Golden eagles and bearded vultures are the largest birds to be found in the Alps; they nest high on rocky ledges and can b
e found at altitudes of . The most common bird is the alpine chough which can be found scavenging at climber's huts or at the Jungfraujoch, a high altitude tourist destination. Reptiles such as adders and vipers live up to the snow line; because they cannot bear the cold temperatures they hibernate underground and soak up the warmth on rocky ledges. The highaltitude Alpine salamanders have adapted to living above the snow line by giving birth to fully developed young rather than laying eggs. Brown trout can be found in the streams up to the snow line. Molluscs such as the wood snail live up the snow line. Popularly gathered as food, the snails are now protected. A number of species of moths live in the Alps, some of which are believed to have evolved in the same habitat up to 120 million years ago, long before the Alps were created. Blue butterflies can commonly be seen drinking from the snowmelt; some species of blues fly as high as . The butterflies tend to be large, such as those from the swallowtail Par
nassius family, with a habitat that ranges to . Twelve species of beetles have habitats up to the snow line; the most beautiful and formerly collected for its colours but now protected is Rosalia alpina. Spiders, such as the large wolf spider, live above the snow line and can be seen as high as . Scorpions can be found in the Italian Alps. Some of the species of moths and insects show evidence of having been indigenous to the area from as long ago as the Alpine orogeny. In Emosson in Valais, Switzerland, dinosaur tracks were found in the 1970s, dating probably from the Triassic Period. History Prehistory to Christianity About 10,000 years ago, when the ice melted after the Wrm glaciation, late Palaeolithic communities were established along the lake shores and in cave systems. Evidence of human habitation has been found in caves near Vercors, close to Grenoble; in Austria the Mondsee culture shows evidence of houses built on piles to keep them dry. Standing stones have been found in Alpine areas of Franc
e and Italy. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica are more than 5000 years old; more than 200,000 drawings and etchings have been identified at the site. In 1991, a mummy of a neolithic body, known as tzi the Iceman, was discovered by hikers on the Similaun glacier. His clothing and gear indicate that he lived in an alpine farming community, while the location and manner of his death an arrowhead was discovered in his shoulder suggests he was travelling from one place to another. Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of tzi, has shown that he belongs to the K1 subclade which cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that subclade. The new subclade has provisionally been named K1 for tzi. Celtic tribes settled in Switzerland between 1500 and 1000 BC. The Raetians lived in the eastern regions, while the west was occupied by the Helvetii and the Allobrogi settled in the Rhne valley and in Savoy. The Ligurians and Adriatic Veneti lived in northwest Italy and Triveneto respectively. Among the many
substances Celtic tribes mined was salt in areas such as Salzburg in Austria where evidence of the Hallstatt culture was found by a mine manager in the 19th century. By the 6th century BC the La Tne culture was well established in the region, and became known for high quality decorated weapons and jewellery. The Celts were the most widespread of the mountain tribesthey had warriors that were strong, tall and fair skinned, and skilled with iron weapons, which gave them an advantage in warfare. During the Second Punic War in 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal probably crossed the Alps with an army numbering 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants. This was one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare, although no evidence exists of the actual crossing or the place of crossing. The Romans, however, had built roads along the mountain passes, which continued to be used through the medieval period to cross the mountains and Roman road markers can still be fo

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