This brief biographical sketch was done for Ada Lovelace Day 2009. I think I in was a pub at the time.
From a humble beginning as a joke in a pub, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage is now an Eisner-nominated graphic novel! New York Times Bestseller and winner of the British Society for the History of Mathematics Neumann Prize!
MORE ABOUT THE BOOK
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For more on Ada Lovelace not in the form of a comic book, an excellent in-depth summation of Lovelace and Babbage’s work can be found at Steven Wolfram’s blog.
Read More About Charles Babbage. Charles Babbage would totally have become a street-music destroying Masked Avenger if he could have. Actually he kind of did.
For more on the Analytical Engine, I have some animations and visualisations of it here. If that whets your appetite for gigantic steam powered Babbagey calculating machines be sure to check out Plan 28 where an intrepid crew is attempting to build one.
For the hardcore:
Ada Lovelace’s Paper on the Analytical Engine (are you HARD ENOUGH?)
Charles Babbage’s Autobiography (awesome, hilarious, fascinating, with VOLCANOES and MATH, why is this not in print?!?)
Behold the awesome might of the Difference Engine! Two working Difference Engines have been built in modern times- there’s one in the Science Museum in London, and that’s the one currently in the Computer History Museum in Mountain View California.
There’s also the whole rest of this website, with several amusing episodes and assorted oddities.
Comments
150 responses to “Lovelace– The Origin”
Is there more? Where please? Pretty please? Pretty please with binary sprinkles and a powdering of bites?
being a computer programmer myself makes me very proud of my job;.”
Just wanted to say “Absolutely love your comic!”
I’m fascinated to meet Ada Lovelace. Especially as I’m designing sets for a new play about her near contemporary Margaret Fuller – another smart, strong-minded feminist who crashed the boys’ club of Transcendentalism. Just wish I could steampunk this.
BTW also love the thaumatrope I made from your design. Thanks!
Your comic is absolutely wonderful and I’m so glad that I stumbled upon it. We’ll happily mention it on our next program.
Currently (8/2010) I’m an unemployed programmer analyst and sometime engineer.
Somehow, the Fates have sent me toward 2D Goggles, Ada, Brunel, and Babbage. You must be the Head Fate, of course.
Sydney, I know you are busy animating Narnia and all that, but your witty cartoons keep me and many more science, poetry, math, and Star Trek engineering geeks laughing through the madness around us all.
Keep us all laughing, won’t you? We won’t allow any musicians to disturb your drawings and animations in the meantime…
Floyd
This is so beautiful I nearly cried. You are a certifiable genius/maniac. Please make sure that your planned take over of the world (I am assuming there is one somewhere in amongst your plans) is as brilliantly thought out and presented. World leaders will simply hand you their countries. Good luck, Jonts
Simply amazing and brilliant. I’ve learned a thing or two here. Thanks.
[…] Lovelace: The Origin for a biographical sketch of our heroine and a fine first step into her […]
[…] Ada Lovelace is regarded as the world’s first computer programmer – working in conjunction Charles Babbage, the famous mathematician and engineer who is credited as being the ‘Father of the Computer’, she created an encoded algorithm which is now considered to be the world’s first computer programmer. She also predicted that one day these computing machines could do far more than crunch numbers, including creating music. Windows 7? Her idea, probably. […]
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Omg. So awesome.
now I want a fan that is also a cellphone.
Now available in print! http://www.gudmagazine.com/vault/5/Ada+Lovelace%253A+The+Origin%2521 =)
[…] casual appearances, it’s not the birthday of Ada Lovelace (or even her real-life counterpart), but it’s never a bad day to honor her contributions […]
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This is great!! I must add it to my college course as computer history!
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Thank you for this!! I’m presently writing a paper on dear Lovelace and was quite amused to stumble across this. Best from Portland, Sarah
[…] Ada Lovelace, born in 1815, is widely credited as the first computer programmer (even though the ‘computer’ she wrote a program for – Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine – was never actually built). She was taught mathematics as a girl to combat any poetical tendencies she might have inherited from her father, the “mad, bad and dangerous to know” Lord Byron! Unfortunately she died when she was only 36 so she never got a chance to develop her ideas further. However, she lives on (and, alongside Babbage, fights crime) over at the wonderful 2D Goggles. […]
[…] There were some fascinating speeches and presentations, including a remarkable discussion of neutrinos and gravitational entropy by John Spooner of Unlimited Theatre, and a rather ditsy but nonetheless charming and illuminating talk about the process of writing and illustrating a comic from Sydney Padua, the brilliant artist behind Lovelace and Babbage – http://sydneypadua.com/2dgoggles/lovelace-the-origin-2/ […]
i am both a licensed quantuum mechanic, and the holder of a poetic license (issued by a poetic justice), so i find your work doubly amusing.
i came here via times online top science blogs list (via pharyngula).
your work is so funny, i must twitter you to my friends.
wait, this is a fan…
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Totally awesome! As a 1960’s programmer & mathematician I find this series as good as XKCD (http://xkcd.com/10/) “A webcomic of romance,
sarcasm, math, and language.” A must for college students. Superb.
[…] Tor.com, Jaymee Goh interviews Sydney Padua, creator of the Ada Lovelace webcomics at 2D Goggles. The comics are short, smart, and funny, so if you haven’t read them yet, stop […]
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Oops! There are more! My fumble!
Please, o most splendid and witty Sidney Padua, would you please please please do more adventures for the alternate universe Babbage and Lovelace? It would be so very woot!
pointed here by aubergine_pilot from my lj
[…] curiosidades para encerrar: Sydney Paula escreveu e desenhou uma história em quadrinhos curta e fantástica para o Ada Lovelace…; o Ada Lovelace Day, claro; e The Difference Engine, um romance de história alternativa escrito […]
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And a programming language was named after her, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language)
Well, it took me awhile to get here, but I found it…Love the Babbage/Lovelace comic! And hey…*waves to Captain Red Llewellyn from Second Life* – nice to see a familiar face!! :)
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Just awesome!!
[…] Il disegnatore, Sydney Padua, ne ha altre da raccontare, tra cui un’intera storia in onore di Ada Lovelace (ne avevamo parlato […]
looks like my wall “forever thank you” needs to be updated. can you send me a photo? :)
it’s great!!!!!!