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The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer | Sydney Padua
In The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage Sydney Padua transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into a hilarious set of adventures The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage is a unique take on the unrealized invention of the computer in the 1830s by the eccentric polymath Charles Babbage and his accomplice, the daughter of Lord Byron, Ada, Countess of Lovelace. When Ada translated her friend Babbage's plans for the "Difference Engine," her lengthy footnotes contained the first appearance of the general computing theory-one hundred years before an actual computer was built. Sadly, Lovelace died of cancer a few years after publishing the paper, and Babbage never built any of his machines. But now Sydney Padua gives us an alternate reality in which Lovelace and Babbage do build the Difference Engine, and then use it to do battle with the American banking system, the publishing industry and their own fears that their project will lose funding -- all "for the sake of both London and science". Sydney Padua is a graphic artist and animator. Her visual effects work includes both hand-drawn and computer-generated and appears in such films as The Iron Giant, Clash of the Titans, and John Carter. Her webcomic The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage has been featured on the BBC's Techlab, and in The Economist, The Times, and Wired UK. She is a Canadian living in London.
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review
Robotswithpersonality
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Pickpick

What a wonderful experience. Extraordinary art, the mix of incredible detail and adorable cartooniness which itself is a reflection of the text, the amount of facts packed in, sprinkled amongst such playful humour. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality Probably the first time I didn't wish something graphic novel-like was done up in full colour, as the setting is a specific (alternate?) historical time period, the somewhat non-fiction-minded nature of the work, the intricate shading and depth in the backgrounds reads better in black and white. 2/? 1y
Robotswithpersonality I had to rely on exposition and footnotes to figure out the significance of many of them, but I appreciated how many historical figures the author-artist managed to pack into this 'pocket universe'. She also managed to sneak a lot of knowledge and history into those footnotes/end notes. Why couldn't more school text books take this tack? I'll admit to my own biases, I was more drawn to the footnotes on the history than the mathematics. 3/? 1y
Robotswithpersonality I love that even the footnotes may be played with the so that images basically barge in, obscure, obliterate or reshape them.
Major respect for the commitment to seeking out primary source material. Speaking of which, the incredibly sweet epilogue is hiding AFTER the two appendices sections, don't miss it! 4/4
1y
7 likes3 comments
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Robotswithpersonality
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In the running for favourite author-artist photo so far encountered. Between this and Terry Pratchett, I'm starting to think hats are key. 🎩🤠

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Robotswithpersonality
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Digitization efforts give me the warm fuzzies. Hurray for the preservation and indexing of information! 🥰

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Robotswithpersonality
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Okay, that did it, totally in love with this book. 🥰😸

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Robotswithpersonality
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I love how the book plays with its own format!

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Robotswithpersonality
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Learned a new phrase, which seems to suggest someone tested the rebound potential of a falling feline fatality. Thanks, I hate it. 😬

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Robotswithpersonality
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Bailing out bankers in 1890. The more things change, the more they stay the same... 🤦🏼‍♂️

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Robotswithpersonality
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The inventor of roller skates wore them at a party while simultaneously playing the violin and then did a header into a 500 £ mirror.
I love history, you can't make this shit up any battier than it actually occurred.

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Robotswithpersonality
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"My relationship with computers could be described as a grudging truce with sporadic outbreaks of open hostilities."
??
SAME.

5 likes1 stack add
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Verity
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Friday night reading!

charl08 Enjoyed this one! 4y
18 likes1 stack add1 comment
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LizzieLou
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The original "file not found"

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SaunteringVaguelyDownwards
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I am thankful for all the #technology that forms the basis of my research, like the educational alternate reality game called The Tessera which featured Ada Lovelace as the head of a secret society of innovators fighting a mysterious force known only as S.

#technology #gratitude30

8 likes1 stack add
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Adventures-of-a-French-Reader
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Mehso-so

I really enjoyed the illustrations, but I wasn't passionate about the subject matter, and I got lost in the footnotes... Despite all that, I've learned some things about Lovelace and Babbage, but I feel like too much information kills information. My accurate rating is between so-so and pan...

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Pedrocamacho
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Pickpick

This graphic novel is an imaginative and enjoyable read. It contains lots of math history, but doesn‘t bog down in the history.

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Vikkiha
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Pickpick

I loved Ada, Charles and the story of their friendship formed from mutual respect and shared interests. I learned so much from footnotes. Text books should be written like this. Highly recommended for anyone interested in: computing, history, science, engineering and/or remarkable women.

Turned on my TV last night right at the moment an antiques show was discussing some of Mary Somerville‘s letters, inc. one from Babbage. So this pic seemed apt.

15 likes1 stack add
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Vikkiha
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Loved this right from the first page. I wish I had appreciated the ‘poetical‘ nature of maths when I was at school, I would have applied myself to it a bit more. Happily, Sydney Padua is not a maths and science expert (she says so herself) so I can understand (most) of the technical things in here. And she is hilariously funny.

13 likes1 stack add
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elemenopew
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It's 11:15 pm and I can't WAIT to start my #24in48 #readathon with these two beauties! 💙 I keep eyeing the clock every few minutes. 😅

I managed to snatch some time from work the last few weeks to read a little from each, but it'll be WONDERFUL to just unplug and ✨read✨ for an entire weekend.

Other TBR candidates are Call Me By Your Name, Ethan Frome, Saga, Norse Mythology & some good ol' Batman.

What's everyone else reading? 😊

eraderneely Love this book! 6y
elemenopew @eraderneely I just finished it, it's so good! I haven't laughed like that in ages. 😃 6y
13 likes1 stack add2 comments
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elemenopew
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"An original scientific paper by a woman would have been very unusual, but there was precedent for women to write translations and summaries of men's work."

ALLL THE LOVE to Lovelace for adding her notes to a paper, making it two and a half times the size of the original. ♥

#currentlyreading #comics #graphicnovels #womenintech #girlpower #feminism #womeninscience #girlsjustwannahavefundamentalrights

13 likes2 stack adds
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UrsulaMonarch
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This is even better - funnier and more unique- than I'd expected! I love the premise. Thanks for the rec @well.read.panda !
#SFPL #GraphicNovels #science

7 likes1 stack add
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AmandaL
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I'm going to use this title to multitask. Things you can say about this mostly true graphic novel: #itshistory, it makes you #think about how far computers have come, and it features #girlsinscience - a girl, anyway. #backtoreading #augustgrrrl #anditsaugust

Cinfhen #multitasking 🙌🏻❣️ 7y
8leagueboot I've been meaning to read this for ages! 7y
AmandaL @8leagueboot Me too! It mocks me from the top of my bookshelf. 😆 7y
Gezemice This one is fun! I liked it, but the format got on my nerves. When you read it, you will see what I mean. 7y
63 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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AMVP
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Pickpick

#anditsaugust #day6 - #comicsbywomen

A terrific piece of edutainment that is by turns boundlessly charming and tenderly bittersweet.

16 likes3 stack adds
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MidwestCrazed
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I've been meaning to read this one for awhile. #24in48

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Eyelit
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Some absolute awesomeness from @gossamerchild - totally made my day and I love it!
#litsypenpals

mcipher I love the unicorn!! 7y
gossamerchild Yay, so glad it got there 😍😍 7y
107 likes2 comments
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charl08
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Such a fun read.

47 likes4 stack adds
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trazo
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Someone wants attention. 🐶🙂

rather_be_reading great first post! 🐶 6y
6 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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scatterall
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Pickpick

I reviewed this for Shelf Awareness when it came out and am still recommending it to people. Pure joy if you love history/computer/literature geekery. A taste for steampunk helps too. My 12 year old daughter also read it several times, ignoring all the footnotes (the stories don't require them). The author is an animator who worked on Iron Giant and the 2016 Jungle Book movie. She has a website with excerpts from this. #comics #riotgrams

5 likes1 stack add
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Maike
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Pickpick

The first book I finished in 2017 was an interesting view on the beginnings of computer technology.
I'll try to do three challenges this year, so this was a great book to knock out a category from each of them 😁
#litsyatoz #readharder #popsugar

BookishMarginalia Off to a great start! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 7y
Redheadrambles Oh that's a good idea for the Read Harder tech book 7y
72 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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Iindseyo
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Well this is delightful 😊 #graphicnovel

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LitsyFeministBookClub
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Happy Ada Lovelace Day! Today is Ada's birthday. She's widely known as the first computer programmer. She worked as a mathematician with Charles Babbage to develop his Analytical Machine & wrote the first algorithm to be read by a machine, all during a time when it wasn't common for women to study math or science. Her efforts have largely gone overlooked throughout history but are finally starting to be recognized. 🙌🏻

#badasswomen

rachelm I would like to use #badasswomen every day. That's awesome! 7y
BookishFeminist @rachelm Yes! #Badasswomen get me by every day. We have tons more planned! Details in our Slack channel ☺️ 7y
EchoCharlie I love the art on the bottom right, do you have a link for it? It'd be awesome on a tshirt? 7y
73 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Vansa
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The author's included an illustration by John Tenniel, about a bailout of, funnily enough , Barings Bank, in the 18th Century.

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Vansa
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I like that instead of The Change, it reads 'Plus ca change', because when it comes to financial crises, nothing ever really changes!

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Vansa
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I absolutely love this clever, charming book. Specially this panel and its nod to the dot com bubble.

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Blueberry
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This seems like a good read. It's a graphic novel, has great reviews, nonfiction and inspires people to build it with Legos!
http://www.victorianadventureenthusiast.com/index/vote-for-lovelace-babbage-at-l...
#Legos #graphicnovel @NataliePatalie

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Pickingclover
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I'm taking a break from reading tonight to work on a baby blanket, but I'm having a hard time putting this down! It's so fun, and I'm learning. Win!

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drinkteareadbooks
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I've never been interested in graphic novels but I gave this one a chance. The verdict? If you like being entertained, learning a random assortment of fun facts, and having a gosh darn good time, this book is for you.

3 likes1 stack add
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Liberty
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Pickpick

I can't let Ada Lovelace Day go by without reminding you that this amazing book exists! IT'S AN EPIC NERDPURR. I've read it so many times, I've lost count. ❤️🤘🏻📚

RebeccaSpeas The George Eliot story is my fave, but that last Quixote/Alice moment between Babbage/Lovelace definitely made my eyes smell onions ❤️ 8y
Suzze I see that staring at me on the shelf right now. 8y
alanacristin I really want to wander around in that machine 😍 8y
184 likes35 stack adds3 comments
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bookshopsc
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Pickpick

Do you like science? Or historical figures, like Charles Babbage (father of the computer) or Ada Lovelace (mother of computer coding)? What if those same historical figures were re-imagined to become crime fighters in steampunk London? Then friend, you have found that truly magical thing you didn‘t know you were looking for. Hilarious, witty and imaginative, you can‘t miss this. - Jax

BeththeBookDragon This was already on my TBR, but this just bumped it up!! 8y
Victoria_C Did you know yesterday was Ada Lovelace day? Or was that coincidence? 8y
56 likes18 stack adds2 comments
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balletbookworm
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Happy Ada Lovelace Day!!

If you haven't read Sydney Padua's delightful, inventive, and innovative biography/alternate history graphic novel about Ada Lovelace and her colleague Charles Babbage, I highly recommend it! 😃

28 likes3 stack adds
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ABookishLife
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Happy Ada Lovelace Day! Celebrate women in STEM. 🔬💁🏻

16 likes1 stack add
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erk1119
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A graphic novel, but also a book with footnotes on the footnotes.

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Erin01
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Pickpick

a toss up between a pick and so-so for me, while I did think the formating could have been better (maybe with all the footnotes at the end instead of in sectons), once I got used to it I did find it quite an enjoyable read 📚

33 likes2 stack adds
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kaianicole
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"Pray do not corrupt the cats with poetry." -Ada Lovelace and George Elliot in this alternate reality analytical engine (steam-powered computer)

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DoctorMirabilis1267
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A mathematical story as a graphic novel?! What isn't right with this picture!!

DoctorMirabilis1267 Padua writes an extremely clever take on the relationship between Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage and what might have been. For all of the mathematics, the text's approach is quite accessible. 8y
8 likes1 stack add1 comment
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RebeccaSpeas
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Pickpick

Charming, whimsical, and fun, I mostly enjoyed this pocket universe version of Lovelace & Babbage. Although I feel like a lot of the book got bogged down by extensive historical/contextual footnotes, the moments of genuine heart and clever characterization (particularly this moment, Queen Victoria, Isambard Brunel, and George Eliot) definitely made up for it.

22 likes1 stack add
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Erin01
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really enjoying this so far 📖

#hellooctober #currentlyreading #booksandtea #comics

23 likes1 stack add
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kaianicole
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"...the Pocket Universe in which Lovelace and Babbage live to complete the Analytical Engine, and naturally use it to HAVE THRILLING ADVENTURES and FIGHT CRIME!!"

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Battledoll
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Pickpick

I agree with the other reviews that found it somewhat annoying flipping between illustrations, footnotes, and endnotes. I did find that it became much less of an issue after the first chapter/section once it switched to the fantasy accounts of the creation of the engine. Overall I found the book very charming and entertaining.

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RebeccaSpeas
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OMG QUEEN VICTORIA SPEAKS IN ILLUMINATED SCRIPT

24 likes1 stack add
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RebeccaSpeas
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Oh my goodness I am SO HERE for this book

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RebeccaSpeas

Oh my goodness I am SO HERE for this book