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Some of the claims made about Ada are certainly mistaken, but there are also good arguments for genuine, important contributions. See, for example, Babbage historian Doron Swade's discussion of her insight into potential applications of the Analytical Engine beyond numeric calculation (beginning at 36:30):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K5p_tBcrd0

By the way, a very good biography of Grace Hopper was published a few years ago:

http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/grace-hopper-and-invention-inf...