For example, when Ada (now married to the the Earl of Lovelace) obtains the services of the mathematician Augustus De Morgan as a tutor, she writes (A reader will know no more about the uses of or mathematics behind Babbage's "engines" after reading this book than before.) Rather, the focus is on the people and their interactions, much of it concerning the politics of British nobility and the prejudices that kept women out of math and science. Moreover, it is not possible to learn any specific mathematical ideas or results from reading this book either. This novel does not have much to say about the discipline of mathematics in general.
( The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage is also a well-researched fictional portrayal of the life of Ada Lovelace, but of course Enchantress of Numbers is much more serious and realistic than that graphic novel!) In that sense, it very much reminds me of Beyond the Limit, a novel which does something similar for Sofia Kovalevskaya. There are, of course, many non-fictional sources that attempt to do the same but the fictional context brings the characters to life and makes them accessible to a wider audience. Nevertheless, as the author can count on the reader to have a 21st century appreciation of computer science and hatred of sexism, it provides a modern perspective on the life of the 19th century mathematician whom many consider to be the world's first computer programmer. This voluminous (448 page) work of historical fiction is told in first person from the perspective of Ada Byron King (Lady Lovelace) herself.
A list compiled by Alex Kasman ( College of Charleston)Įnchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace (2017)
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