Ada's Algorithm: How Lord Byron's Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age by James Essinger (Melville House, 272 pages, October 14)The digital age could have started two centuries ago, had scientists and mathematicians recognized Ada Lovelace's groundbreaking and pioneering work. Here, Essinger chronicles her work with Charles Babbage (credited with inventing the first computer) and that time she wrote the first computer program. Ever. I KNOW. Sounds fascinating.
Literary Fiction
Man V. Nature: Stories by Diane Cook (Harper, 272 pages, October 7)In this collection, Cook explores our most primal instincts and our connection to the natural world. Obsession, desire, fear, domination: Cook brings it all in order to show us just how thin the veneer of "civilization" really is.
Mystery
Riders on the Storm: A Sam McCain Mystery by Ed Gorman (Pegasus, 252 pages, October 15)A "politically charged mystery novel" set in 1967, Riders on the Storm follows investigator Sam McCain as he tries to uncover the truth about the murder of a veteran-turned-anti-war protester. And while there's an obvious suspect, McCain isn't biting, determined to look beneath the surface.
Ada's Algorithm sounds interesting. I always like those 'what might have been' stories regarding early potential technology.
ReplyDeleteAll three of these books sound pretty awesome; although the idea of exploring the thin veneer of civilization seems particularly intriguing.
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