The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer

by Padua, Sydney
ISBN: 9780307908278
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Used - Hardcover - 9780307908278

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Overview

THE THRILLING ADVENTURES OF LOVELACE AND BABBAGE . . . in which Sydney Padua transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into a hilarious series of adventures.

Meet Victorian London's most dynamic duo: Charles Babbage, the unrealized inventor of the computer, and his accomplice, Ada, Countess of Lovelace, the peculiar protoprogrammer and daughter of Lord Byron. When Lovelace translated a description of Babbage's plans for an enormous mechanical calculating machine in 1842, she added annotations three times longer than the original work. Her footnotes contained the first appearance of the general computing theory, a hundred years before an actual computer was built. Sadly, Lovelace died of cancer a decade after publishing the paper, and Babbage never built any of his machines.

But do not despair The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage presents a rollicking alternate reality in which Lovelace and Babbage do build the Difference Engine and then use it to build runaway economic models, battle the scourge of spelling errors, explore the wilder realms of mathematics, and, of course, fight crime--for the sake of both London and science. Complete with extensive footnotes that rival those penned by Lovelace herself, historical curiosities, and never-before-seen diagrams of Babbage's mechanical, steam-powered computer, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage is wonderfully whimsical, utterly unusual, and, above all, entirely irresistible.

(With black-and-white illustrations throughout.)

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Author: Padua, Sydney
  • ISBN: 9780307908278
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 10.30 x 1.10
  • Number Of Pages: 320
  • Publication Year: 2015

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  • Fun, engaging comic volume

    Jen M. - 6 years ago

    Padua does an incredible job blending history with humor to create the fictitious adventures of the (real) mathematician Charles Babbage and his friend Ada, Countess Lovelace. Lovelace, a formidable mathematician in her own right, is credited with having the foresight to combine the ideas of Babbage's difference engine with the pattern cards used in Eli Whitney's cotton gin (another invention of their time) to create the basis for what would become computer programming. Here, Padua explores not only the history of these contributions, but also the friendship of Lovelace and Babbage themselves as well as their relationships with other colorful personalities of the day. Done in an exquisite comic book format, this engaging book is perfect for fans of history and math, or for getting someone interested in the history of science.