What phrase did Ada Lovelace use for her approach to science?

Ada Lovelace described her approach to science as “poetical science.” The phrase captured her belief that imagination and intuition could work alongside mathematical discipline.

Lovelace was fascinated by the connections between mathematics, music, language and the natural world. Rather than viewing calculation as a purely mechanical activity, she imagined mathematics as a way to explore patterns and relationships that conventional science might overlook. Her phrase also reflected her effort to combine her poetic inheritance from her father, Lord Byron, with her rigorous mathematical education.

The wording is often confused with “natural philosophy,” a historical term for science, or with “symbolic logic,” a later technical field. Lovelace instead used “poetical science” to characterize her own intellectual style. This outlook helped her recognize that Charles Babbage’s proposed Analytical Engine could manipulate symbols and potentially produce results beyond ordinary arithmetic.

Her most famous work was her 1843 set of notes on the Analytical Engine, including an algorithm for calculating Bernoulli numbers. That algorithm is why she is often described as the first computer programmer.