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Editorial Content for The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

Jess Costello

THE THRILLING ADVENTURES OF LOVELACE AND BABBAGE is the quirky debut graphic novel by animator and story artist Sydney Padua. It follows the lives of 19th-Century English scientist Charles Babbage and Ada, Countess of Lovelace: the man who designed the first programmable computer and the woman who designed the first computer programs. In the real world, Babbage never builds his computer (called the Analytical Engine) and Lovelace dies of uterine cancer at the age of thirty-six. Padua doesn't like this, so she changes the endings of their stories. Read More

Teaser

 

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.

Promo

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.

About the Book

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.
There are few things that elicit more dread in a high school student's mind than the words "college applications." The agonizing decisions of where to apply, the endless streams of essays asking you to describe every last particle of your accomplishments and your character and confusing financial aid forms.  Teen Board member (and high school junior) Alison S. can relate --- and for this reason, decided to read the adult satire EARLY DECISION for a little bit of light-hearted fare on a semi-daunting topic. However, the book turned out to be a bit different than she expected. Read her thoughts below --- and if you're just starting the college application process, you might decide to pick it up for yourself!
There are few things that elicit more dread in a high school student's mind than the words "college applications." The agonizing decisions of where to apply, the endless streams of essays asking you to describe every last particle of your accomplishments and your character and confusing financial aid forms.  Teen Board member (and high school junior) Alison S. can relate --- and for this reason, decided to read the adult satire EARLY DECISION for a little bit of light-hearted fare on a semi-daunting topic. However, the book turned out to be a bit different than she expected. Read her thoughts below --- and if you're just starting the college application process, you might decide to pick it up for yourself!
There are few things that elicit more dread in a high school student's mind than the words "college applications." The agonizing decisions of where to apply, the endless streams of essays asking you to describe every last particle of your accomplishments and your character and confusing financial aid forms.  Teen Board member (and high school junior) Alison S. can relate --- and for this reason, decided to read the adult satire EARLY DECISION for a little bit of light-hearted fare on a semi-daunting topic. However, the book turned out to be a bit different than she expected. Read her thoughts below --- and if you're just starting the college application process, you might decide to pick it up for yourself!

April 21, 2015

This Bookreporter.com Special Newsletter spotlights a book that releases on May 5th. Read more about it, and enter our Spring Preview Contest by Wednesday, April 22nd at 11:59am ET for a chance to win one of five copies of THE DAYLIGHT MARRIAGE by Heidi Pitlor. Please note that each contest is only open for 24 hours, so you will need to act quickly!

Lin Yutang

Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.

Attribution

Lin Yutang
On a spectacular spring day in northern California, cosplayers, children, gamers and even a few Golden State Warrior fans lined up outside the San Jose Convention Center anxiously waiting for the doors to open at BigWow! Comicfest.

Beth Kephart, author of One Thing Stolen

Something is not right with Nadia Cara. While spending a year in Florence, Italy, she's become a thief. She has secrets. And when she tries to speak, the words seem far away. Nadia finds herself trapped by her own obsessions and following the trail of an elusive Italian boy whom only she has seen. Can Nadia be rescued or will she simply lose herself altogether?
 
Books can be inspired by anything --- a snippet of a conversation overheard on the subway, a dream or a trip to a foreign country. For Paul Volponit was a photo --- specifically, a photo of a 1959 Buick floating into Key West, Florida. Read below to learn the story of the photo and how it translated into his newest book, GAME SEVEN!

Paul Volponi

Paul Volponi is a writer, teacher and journalist living in New York City. From 1992-1998, he taught incarcerated teens on Rikers Island to read and write. That experience formed the basis of his ALA Award-winning novels RIKERS HIGH and BLACK AND WHITE. From 1999-2005, Paul taught teens in drug treatment programs, inspiring his ALA Award-winning novel ROOFTOP. As a journalist, Paul covers the sport of Thoroughbred racing for the national publication The Blood-Horse.