Back Cover: England, 1884 - In the solitude of an old English manor house, the little Bertie Russell discovers, fascinated, the power of logic. This discovery will lead his life ...
on an American campus, 1939 - As Nazi troops invade the Old: Continent Professor Russell tells an audience of students a fascinating story, one of the greatest minds of his time, Poincaré, Hilbert, Wittgenstein, etc.., that of their relentless pursuit - but apparently he lost before - the foundations of scientific truth. And how these thinkers obstinate aesthetes those who thirst for absolute truth, always preyed by madness and exposed to the violence of their times, tried to reformulate mathematics and contemporary science.
Athens today - Three men, two women and a dog wondering about the fate of these exceptional men and their extraordinary discoveries and their continuing legacy in our everyday life ...
Immerse yourself in an exciting intellectual adventure that has already attracted hundreds of thousands of readers around the world!
notice of Emmanuel
Logicomix is one of my acquisitions Angoulême 2011. With the nice bonus dedication below (thank you again Ben and So). It is also currently my most interesting discovery. Surprising at first sight for a graphic novel that traces the history of logic, a topic that is certainly not trivial, but let's face it, not really exciting at first. And yet the four authors of this very nice pad of 340 pages are able to make this unlikely material a very good book, innovative in many ways, as smart as beautiful, and instructive as rhythmic. Once is not custom, the subject deserves a little dissection rule to take all the good measure of its rich originality.
First the background. The authors do not hide the purpose of the work was to expose the history of modern logic, focusing on the major issues that formed in the early twentieth century 'the quest of the foundations of mathematics. " So it was for them to convey to the reader a certain amount of very specific information that would likely hit a rare elite particularly interested in the subject if the data had been compiled in an essay or a treaty, or absolutely no one if the track's classic novel had been followed, the risk was as great a story to produce dry and tasteless.
Second bias narrative. The use of a multi-layered narrative is really smart and makes the narrative a fluidity that would probably not have been achieved otherwise (the authors take stage in creating comics, comic which tells a conference September 3, 1939 by Bertrand Russell in a U.S. university on the role of logic in human affairs, conference during which Bertrand Russell himself describes the events of his personal biography and the history of the quest of the foundations of mathematics. "). This seemingly complex structure is made clear by using the format "graphic" and reinforced by clever tricks of formatting or coloring that differentiate implicitly (I only realized after the finished book) different levels of narration: coaching boxes (cutout with rounded corners, square corners ...), sidebar background color pages, color codes in the boxes (black and white illustrations / examples ...).
the center of this structure in the form of Russian dolls is the biography of Bertrand Russell who did a bit of a hero of the story, or character to which attention is that we hate that one understands or that disturbs, but which leaves no one indifferent. Although this choice has forced the authors state in which the afterword, some approximations or even some historical inventions, it immediately gives a very theoretical subject a human who carries the reader from the world of ideas to the facts. Third
form. The choice of comics, it is more daring, finally appears to be an excellent idea. The design (and color) infuses indeed a precious life to work, facilitates the example and demonstration and allows a flexible organization of the narrative whose other media have failed. I must confess that over the single line without being simplistic and colorful impressed me even before they begin reading.
I leave aside the parallels and entanglement between logic and madness put forward by the authors to conclude by stressing the main message of the book, which seems very relevant (to me scientific training aspiring to a minimum of literary and humanistic). Of course, Logicomix highlights the logic as a powerful scientific tool that will find numerous fields of applications, including for example that of making decisions about human affairs. Yet "when logic freezes in global theories and seemingly perfect, it can become very vicious scam!". We now have some clues to take the measurement.
To read or not?
Yes, I strongly recommend reading this graphic novel hybrid absolutely innovative and totally exciting. I would recommend only to those like me who have no specific knowledge regarding the history of logic and mathematics to first read the notebook end of the book or refer to it regularly so as not to pass side by ignorance of important elements of context "historic" or concepts.
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