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A review by kahht
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage by Sydney Padua
5.0
Sydney Padua brings the semi-fictional invention of the first computer to life in wonderful illustrations and witty footnotery. Her graphic style is gorgeous, but even more so, the research she has put into this tiny graphic novel is incredible. Padua provides primary sources throughout the book, presented in such an endearing and loving way as to not feel academic in the slightest.
This book isn't non-fiction, but it isn't entirely fiction either. Most of the book is spent in a pocket universe of well-informed imagination of what could of have been had Lovelace lived longer and Babbage carried through with his plans to build a physical Analytical Engine. The result is amazing and beautiful. The idea allows Padua to walk through aspects of the two protagonists' personalities and histories without feeling stuffy.
She accomplishes much of the wit meets fact through lengthy footnotes, and wow! I don't even know how to describe what she does in this respect, but she nails it.
Padua's passion for the topic is evident in every word and pen stroke on every page. Even if I weren't such a fan of the two geniuses before, I certainly would want to learn more after reading these Thrilling Adventures. This is a book that should truly make people love engineering, computer science and history. I can't recommend it enough (it's truly a shame that no bookstores in my city carried it and that I had to order it online... hopefully this changes in fast order).
This book isn't non-fiction, but it isn't entirely fiction either. Most of the book is spent in a pocket universe of well-informed imagination of what could of have been had Lovelace lived longer and Babbage carried through with his plans to build a physical Analytical Engine. The result is amazing and beautiful. The idea allows Padua to walk through aspects of the two protagonists' personalities and histories without feeling stuffy.
She accomplishes much of the wit meets fact through lengthy footnotes, and wow! I don't even know how to describe what she does in this respect, but she nails it.
Padua's passion for the topic is evident in every word and pen stroke on every page. Even if I weren't such a fan of the two geniuses before, I certainly would want to learn more after reading these Thrilling Adventures. This is a book that should truly make people love engineering, computer science and history. I can't recommend it enough (it's truly a shame that no bookstores in my city carried it and that I had to order it online... hopefully this changes in fast order).