Author/Illustrator: Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos H. Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos, and Annie Di Donna
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Grade levels: 6-8, 9-12, Higher Education
Subject: Math
Genre: Historical Fiction, Biography/Autobiography
Special Attractions: Nonfiction, Teaching comics, For adults too
Synopsis:
Covering a span of sixty years, the graphic novel Logicomix was inspired by the epic story of the quest for the Foundations of Mathematics.
This was a heroic intellectual adventure most of whose protagonists paid the price of knowledge with extreme personal suffering and even insanity. The book tells its tale in an engaging way, at the same time complex and accessible. It grounds the philosophical struggles on the undercurrent of personal emotional turmoil, as well as the momentous historical events and ideological battles which gave rise to them.
The role of narrator is given to the most eloquent and spirited of the story’s protagonists, the great logician, philosopher and pacifist Bertrand Russell. It is through his eyes that the plights of such great thinkers as Frege, Hilbert, Poincaré, Wittgenstein and Gödel come to life, and through his own passionate involvement in the quest that the various narrative strands come together.
Awards:
- NEW SCIENTIST’S BEST BOOKS OF 2009
- SHELF AWARENESS (publishing industry magazine) TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2009 LIST
- THE WASHINGTON POST’S BEST BOOKS OF 2009 LIST
- THE GUARDIAN’S CHRISTMAS BOOKS LIST: NOVELS
- THE VILLAGE VOICE’S LIST OF 2009’s BEST COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS
- TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 10 EVERYTHING 2009 LIST
- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY’S BEST BOOKS OF 2009 LIST
- THE FINANCIAL TIMES’ BOOKS OF THE YEAR LIST
- THE GLOBE AND MAIL: THE YEAR’S BEST GRAPHIC BOOKS LIST