Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth - Softcover

Doxiadis, Apostolos; Papadimitriou, Christos H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747597200 ISBN 13: 9780747597209

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2009

Synopsis

This brilliantly illustrated tale of reason, insanity, love and truth recounts the story of Bertrand Russell's life. Raised by his paternal grandparents, young Russell was never told the whereabouts of his parents. Driven by a desire for knowledge of his own history, he attempted to force the world to yield to his yearnings: for truth, clarity and resolve. As he grew older, and increasingly sophisticated as a philosopher and mathematician, Russell strove to create an objective language with which to describe the world - one free of the biases and slippages of the written word. At the same time, he began courting his first wife, teasing her with riddles and leaning on her during the darker days, when his quest was bogged down by paradoxes, frustrations and the ghosts of his family's secrets. Ultimately, he found considerable success - but his career was stalled when he was outmatched by an intellectual rival: his young, strident, brilliantly original student, Ludwig Wittgenstein. An insightful and complexly layered narrative, Logicomix reveals both Russell's inner struggle and the quest for the foundations of logic. Narration by an older, wiser Russell, as well as asides from the author himself, make sense of the story's heady and powerful ideas. At its heart, Logicomix is a story about the conflict between pure reason and the persistent flaws of reality, a narrative populated by great and august thinkers, young lovers, ghosts and insanity.

About this title

Review

`A compelling read ... There are some terrific characters here, and seeing them in a comic shows off their quirky personalities' --BBC Focus Magazine

`Logicomix exposes the roots of Russell's need for certainty- a troubled childhood, what else? - and tracks the collateral damage it caused in his and his loved ones' lives. The book is a visual treat as well ... The authors themselves debate questions that may be a breeze compared with the ones Russell wrestled with, but they are still far from easy. Logicomix is a wonderfully persuasive answer'
--Financial Times

This is probably the best and certainly the most extraordinary graphic novel I have ever come across. -- Sunday Times

About the Author

Admitted to Columbia University when he was 15, Apostolos Doxiadis has studied mathematics at both undergraduate and graduate level. An internationally recognised expert on the subjects of mathematics and narrative, he has also worked in film and theatre, and is the author of the international bestseller Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0747597200
• ISBN 13: 9780747597209
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 352