Charles and Ada

I've known of the name Ada Lovelace for some time, mainly through the Ada Lovelace Day initiative, so was aware of her importance to women in science but, I'm embarrassed to say, hadn't actually taken the trouble to find out what specifically she is famous for until I got this chance to read James Essinger's biography, Charles and Ada. I had a similar level of ignorance towards Charles Babbage so reading and reviewing for the book's blog tour has been a real and welcome education!

I felt the book concentrated more on presenting Charles' whole life whereas the title had led me to expect a stronger focus on his and Ada's working relationship, however I understand that original source material is difficult to come by so Essinger is obviously limited on that score. He does allow himself a number of wistful What If moments though and I enjoyed wondering how different our current world might be if Ada's genius had been allowed more scope in the completion of Charles' Engines.

Essinger nicely fills in a lot of background information about the towns in which Charles and Ada lived at various points, and about the political situation in England at the time they lived. The English lack of support for science and scientists rang particularly true when compared to the present day when their work still seems to often be derided or even ignored, and many must still decamp overseas for greater opportunities! I did feel that Charles and Ada might have ended up as too long a book, given the scarcity direct information available about them. While I appreciate the way in which poetry and lengthy quotes were used as scene setting, they did come to feel like padding after a while. The author's insistence on pushing the idea of a romantic relationship between Charles and Ada also wore a little thin. However, overall, I thought Charles and Ada was a neat portrayal of two very unique people and I enjoyed learning about their personalities and their lives.