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Sto caricando le informazioni... Enchantress of Numbers (2017)di Jennifer Chiaverini
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. ***I received a digital advance copy of this through Penguin's First to Read program in exchange for my thoughts. It goes on sale Dec. 5. For about two years I have been fascinated by whatever I can learn about Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage. These two were closely connected in the development of what *could* have been the world's first computer...a hundred years ahead of time. Steam-powered. Wild, right?! I think so. Charles Babbage invented the machine--although he never completed the construction of it; Ada translated a paper about it and added so many of her own notes with calculations and algorithms that she is regarded by some as the first software programmer. They were an eccentric pair of friends, and I can't get enough of them. Enter this book. This is the fictionalized, but pretty accurate, account of Ada's life. It's fiction, but seems to exude careful attention to facts and history; so much so, that in many cases the dialogue was far too skimpy for my tastes. Because of this, the book seemed to ride a line between novel and memoir, not being strictly satisfying in either category. The exception to this is when Ada first sets eyes on Babbage's Difference Engine, and embarks on friendship with him. That scene is a delight to read, with a greater in-the-moment feel than the rest of the book. The book is written in the first person; however, it starts in Ada's first year of life and proceeds with excruciating slowness. In my opinion, the first-person narrative is not suited to reminiscences of a baby and toddler. I was unable to suspend my disbelief and accept that she would have such detailed accounts of what those around her did, said, felt and thought. It was over the top. What the book does well is provide a cohesive account of Ada's life, which I only knew the highlights of. I think it could have been even better if it had condensed the accounts of her young years and focused on her late teens and adult life, especially where the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine were concerned. I found the descriptions of the Difference and Analytical Engines fascinating, and the author handled with a light touch Ada's perception of what they could mean for the future. Content advisory: It gets PG-13 in one scene, where teenage Ada has a close encounter with her tutor whom she has fallen in love with. And because Ada's father was George Gordon, Lord Byron, there are a couple of adult themes that show up. If you know your Byron history they won't be shocking, and they're only presented as part of the family biography, not graphically shown. nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the most brilliant, revered, and scandalous of the Romantic poets, Ada was destined for fame long before her birth. Estranged from Ada's father, who was infamously "mad, bad, and dangerous to know," Ada's mathematician mother is determined to save her only child from her perilous Byron heritage. Banishing fairy tales and make-believe from the nursery, Ada's mother provides her daughter with a rigorous education grounded in mathematics and science. Any troubling spark of imagination--or worse yet, passion or poetry--is promptly extinguished. Or so her mother believes. When Ada is introduced into London society as a highly eligible young heiress, she at last discovers the intellectual and social circles she has craved all her life. Little does she realize that her delightful new friendship with inventor Charles Babbage--brilliant, charming, and occasionally curmudgeonly--will shape her destiny. Intrigued by the prototype of his first calculating machine, the Difference Engine, and enthralled by the plans for his even more advanced Analytical Engine, Ada resolves to help Babbage realize his extraordinary vision, unique in her understanding of how his invention could transform the world. All the while, she passionately studies mathematics--ignoring skeptics who consider it an unusual, even unhealthy pursuit for a woman--falls in love, discovers the shocking secrets behind her parents' estrangement, and comes to terms with the unquenchable fire of her imagination. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Classificazione LCVotoMedia:
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Ada Lovelace struggled against her repressive mother as well as fear of "madness" inherited from the estranged father she never met. Her only outlet was the study of mathematics. Her mother forbade her to follow any "imagination". As an adult, her repressed imagination conceived of the possibilities we have only now realized through computers. Very inspiring! ( )