A review by nadia
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua

adventurous challenging funny informative medium-paced

3.75

This was a real fun ride, packed with lots of adventure and humour, and it would have been absolutely brilliant had it not been for the copious detailed footnotes and endnotes, displayed in such a way that made it incredibly difficult to get into a reading flow with this book. Should I read this footnote now? Shall I leave all of the endnotes until I get to them or will I forget the point it's referring to?

This won't be an issue if you're not somebody like me who has to read all of the extra information presented! I also struggled to understand the wonderfully illustrated description of Babbage's Analytical Engine Sidney Padua provides in the appendix. I just couldn't piece together what was supposed to be happening and I really wanted to given I'd just spent so much time with the book!

Still, this is a great graphic novel and I'm so glad it's in my possession. If computer science and its history interest you, or you've heard about Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, or the Difference Engine, and you want to know more, this is definitely a book to pick up!