Meet two of Victorian London's greatest geniuses . . . Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron- mathematician, gambler, and proto-programmer, whose writings contained the first ever appearance of general computing theory. And Charles Babbage, eccentric inventor of the Difference Engine, an enormous clockwork calculating machine that would have been the first computer . . .
Sydney Padua is an animator and visual effects artist, usually employed in making giant monsters appear to be attacking people for the movies. She started drawing comics by accident with the webcomic 2D Goggles or The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage and is still trying to figure out how to stop. Originally from the Canadian prairie, she now lives in London with her husband and far too many books.
So impossibly funny, clever, demented, charming and altogether
wonderful that I was a convert within three pages. Buy it for
everyone you know, regardless of what you think they like.
Brilliant stuff
*Stylist*
An utter joy... Padua has done her research: she has teased out the
connections between Babbage, Lovelace and what would seem to be the
whole of Victorian culture and society - and done so in a way that
appears almost effortless on the page, her light, easy graphic
style an excellent vehicle not only for deep and complex thought,
but for excellent, and sometimes excellently corny, jokes. This is
a book to reread, not just read
*Guardian*
My new favourite book. It has everything. Byron, maths, imaginary
computers, emotion
*Matt Haig, author of Reasons to Stay Alive*
The book does more than simply celebrate the genius of the first
computer programmer, it encourages us to turn our imagination to
technology - just as Lovelace did. And that's an inspiration to us
all
*Observer Tech Monthly*
The wittiest, best-researched and most original tribute yet paid to
the achievements of Ada Lovelace... An astonishing debut... a book
that ought to be ordered in triplicate by every school in the
land... Ingenious as a textbook, marvellous fun as inventive
biography
*Literary Review*
Rich with in-jokes, warmth and charm... It's difficult not to be
ignited by Sydney Padua's enthusiasm. There is so much to discover
that I'll treasure my copy for years to come
*BBC Focus*
A stylish, funny graphic novel featuring Ada Lovelace, estranged
daughter of Lord Byron, and co-programmer, had it ever been built,
of the "mathematical engine". Playful, earnest, and beautifully
drawn, the book cuts a swathe through early computing theory,
explores Ada's relationship with Charles Babbage, and brings to the
fore one of the unsung heroines of science
*Independent*
There is no way around this, Sydney Padua's Thrilling Adventures of
Lovelace and Babbage is bloody brilliant... and educational too
*Robin Ince*
I love it... everyone is getting a copy
*Martha Lane-Fox*
Wonderful and genuinely informative... Padua's gorgeous art and
very funny text are combined with factual footnotes to create an
utterly unique and enormously enjoyable book -
*Irish Times*
Sydney Padua's smart and sassy steampunk science graphic novel is a
delightful mixture of research and invention, dressed up in Padua's
bouncy cartooning. If nothing else, it is one of the best
introductions to its real-life heroine, proto-computer programmer
Ada Lovelace, you could wish for. If only all science lessons could
be this much fun
*Herald Scotland*
Immensely delightful and illuminating... Padua delivers a
thoroughly unsynthesizable range of enchantment and elucidation
*Brain Pickings*
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