“The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer” by Sydney Padua

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Rating: 4/5 Stars

A very entertaining graphic novel about how it might have been if Ada, Countess of Lovelace and Charles Babbage had managed to bring to life the Analytical Engine. The book starts with the real-life stories of Ada and Babbage, then branches off into a ‘pocket universe’ where the Analytical Engine is created and run by them.

In a series of adventures, the pair hilariously show off the Engine to Queen Victoria who wants to ‘RULE THE WORLD!’, called to save Britain from a global financial crisis, fight off the mathematical Luddites, try to mechanize fiction writing by statistically analysing a book by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) and even try to visualize the third dimension (remember, the characters live on a two-dimensional page).

Probably one of the most hilarious short parts of the book is when George Boole (of Boolean logic fame) is reduces to mumbling “Error, error,” when asked a non-boolean question (not a “Yes” or “No” answer) while being served a drink!

The book is full of footnotes by the author pointing out historical, mathematical, engineering and computing references to the situations depicted. Making the book more true to life is the effort the author went through to ensure that the words being said in the novel closely match what Ada, Babbage and other characters (like Isambard Kingdom Brunel) actually said or wrote in real life.

The book ends with a very technical appendix outlining how Babbage’s Analytical Engine would have worked if it actually had been built.

A very entertaining read indeed.

Book read from 2016/12/02 to 2016/12/14