Stanley delivers a breezy but insightful overview of the curiosity and determination that drove Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) to pursue her intellectual passions, tracing her childhood dreams of flight, her friendship and working relationship with Charles Babbage, and her pioneering programming work in service of promoting Babbage's Analytical Machine. Hartland keeps the mood light in loopy gouache cartoons that humorously portray ... Read moreLovelace as the creative and intelligent product of parents as different as chalk and cheese ; in facing family portraits, the rational, respectable, and strict Lady Byron stares uncomfortably at her husband, Lord Byron, who looks rakish in multiple senses of the word. An author's note and timeline conclude a thoroughly engaging look at a trailblazing mathematical mind.
Publishers Weekly
August 15, 2016
Complementing the clear prose, Hartland's whimsical gouache pictures portray white figures with coral lips and in period dress. Gestural brushstrokes loosely evoke landscapes and interiors, yet scores of objects-from book titles and period toys to an omnipresent cat-provide plentiful visual interest. Pithy narrative plus charming pictures equals an admiring, admirable portrait of a STEM pioneer.
Kirkus Reviews Stanley has been delighting and informing readers with her biographies for years, and here, her considerable talents are once again on display. . . . Hartland's charmingly busy art, reminiscent of Maira Kalman's work, is full of wit-calculations sweep across pages-and meshes well with Stanley's inviting text. This is a solid addition to STEM studies, yes, but, also a great choice for any biography lovers.
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