Title: Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth.
Story-teller(s): Apostolos Doxiadis & Christos H. Papadimitriou.
Illustrator(s): Alecos Papadatos.
Colourist(s): Annie Di Donna.
Inker(s): Dimitris Karatzaferis & Thodoris Paraskevas.
Letterer(s): Anne Bardy.
Publisher: Bloomsbury (NYC).
Format: Paperback.
Release Date: October 5th, 2009.
Pages: 352.
Genre(s): Comics, Philosophy, Non-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781596914520.
My Overall Rating: ★★★★☆.
There are things in life for which you would devote every fiber of your being. Whether it is a person, an object, or maybe even the truth, nothing would soothe your soul more than keeping your word and achieving these self-established goals. For some, research is their gateway towards finding the absolute truth, even if it doesn’t mean that their contribution will be ground-breaking. The journey in itself is enough to make their efforts meaningful for them and for others. Writer Apostolos Doxiadis and theoretical computer scientist Christos Papadimitriou thus work together on a graphic novel project to enlighten readers on the foundational quest in mathematics, a journey embraced by many great thinkers and left countless dazzled by unpredictable discoveries about themselves and the world.
What is Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth about? The story explores philosopher Bertrand Russell’s pursuit of the foundations of mathematics during a period where the greatest minds worked day and night to discover the truth for everyone to work with in a field that quickly dismissed the unexplained. While exploring the man’s inner turmoil as he attempts the impossible, the evolution of countless theories is broken down with efficiency as everyone seeks these foundations as they remain lost within numbers, sets, and rules. This is a story that simply presents the beautiful dichotomy between rationality and reality that hinders the achievement mutual consensus amongst all.
If you thought it would be an impossible task to make mathematics sound magical, this graphic novel will prove you wrong. Although it is isn’t completely and always accurate and loyal to historical facts, it remains relatively close to real events as it attempts to present the famous foundational quest in mathematics. With a part of this graphic novel structured as a story within a story that follows professor Bertrand Russel in the recounting of his life since his first confrontation with logic, the rest follows the creative team in their own dilemma of identifying this graphic novel’s purpose. This pseudo-triple-narrative offers the reader the chance of looking into a complex relationship between man, logic, and madness, without dropping the ball and losing the reader with hypnotic details.
Effortless in its attempt to present the evolution of logic through philosophy by looking at the countless problems encountered in the form of contradictions and paradoxes offers the reader a truly accessible guide at mathematics through the eyes of the 20th century greatest mathematicians and logicians. It’s even more fascinating to see it all told through Bertrand Russell who conveys a much more intimate tale where fear of the unknown and of madness tries to steer him away from breaking new grounds and finding the answers that everyone so desperately seeks. While it is easy to have your basic axioms presented on a silver platter, this story reveals that the quest in itself, amidst the life-changing historical events that took place during that period, is nothing short maddening.
The artwork is not the focal point of this graphic novel either as it simply serves as a consistent and simplistic style with vivid colours that captures the essence of the fear-filled era in which the story takes place. It is at times truly wonderful to see how the medium allows the creators of this graphic novel to simplify the colossal historical task that they had and allow the images to speak for themselves as theories are presented to the reader.
Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth is an insightful and fairly accurate exploration into a man’s journey to discovering the foundations in mathematics.
Roars and Echoes 
I’ve never read a philosophy book in comic form before 🤔 I’ll have to check this out one day!
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It’s definitely worth it, if only to learn the names of theories and thinkers as well as some of the chronology of it all! Thank you so much for reading! 😁
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Although it is isn’t completely and always accurate and loyal to historical facts
And that is why books/movies like this do more harm than good in the long run. And it is also why I get up on my soapbox and use terms like “scyenze” when describing cretins like this. It is beyond ironic that a non-fiction book, touting the hubristic title “Search for Truth”, would feel free to use, distort and discard facts as the authors see fit to fit whatever narrative they are trying to get across.
If someone knowingly discards known historical fact, they have no business talking about truth as if they are the presenters of said truth.
*gets off of soap box*
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Good point.
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Thank you 😀
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The only thing I could say is that they don’t pretend to recreate complete accuracy through this story and at least go to the lengths of mentioning in their post-words the elements that aren’t exactly accurate. I do like that it at least allows us to have an idea of what happened, who was implicated, and what was discovered and whatnot! Otherwise, you’re right. It’s funny to see non-fiction stories not make it their business to be absolutely accurate, especially with such a title. 😀
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Math is not something I am passionate about, but I do appreciate truth and logic.
Sounds like a very unique creation.
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I used to love mathematics, especially arithmetics before drifting right by it post-high school to go into social sciences and explore the minds of criminals hahaha But yes, this one is a nice entry-point for the curious minds. 😀
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I don’t know why but still after having read your review I am not convinced that mathematics are magical LOL
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Hahaha it was not my goal to make it sounds magical through my review. You’ll have to read it to find out why it’s so interesting. 😉 Thanks for reading.
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Wow, this sounds really good. I’ve never imagined math could be magical. I mean, it makes my head spin but not in a nice way. Haha! Great review and cool exhibit, Lashaan! Always looking forward to your posts!
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Hahaahh it’s magical if you actually understand what’s said and manage to conclude the right answers using the proper logic behind it. 😛 Otherwise, forget it. It’s a mess. 😀 Thanks for reading, Camille! I truly appreciate and love hearing your thoughts on my posts. 😉
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Hmm… I’ll add this to my TBR. I like these kinds of nonfiction comics and it does sound interesting. If my library wasn’t still closed, I’d go get a copy now. I’m that curious about it. Debating purchasing it.
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I think it’s totally something that I could see you reading! I hope you get the chance to pick up and give it a try. 😀
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As a STEM major who also loves art, this book coincides with one of my interests in life – the intersection between science and art. It sounds like this comic does a phenomenal job in converting abstract, philosophical questions into a more digestible form via art, which I love. I’ll have to check it out!
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And I think your background will definitely allow you to appreciate this a bit more than others then! 😀 I definitely enjoyed the reflections that it pushes upon you as it tries to recount this famous event in history! 😀 Thanks for reading, Aila! Always glad to hear your thoughts on my posts. 🙂
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It sounds so cool!! 😱 I really like this kind of educational comic books, it’s a great way to learn about something 😊 I had similar books when I was younger and I really liked them! Somehow, it reminds me of Persepolis! Gret review, Lashaan 😄
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Exactly! It’s a fun way to quickly learn a lot of things without picking up a full-novel or event searching Wikipedia. I guess the fact that it’s non-fiction led you to draw similarities with Persepolis hahaha Thanks for reading, Caroline! 😀
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I’d not heard of this one before. It sounds like an interesting idea. Honestly, I don’t know that I’d read it as I usually prefer reading the traditional non-fiction books on science and math. I do share the concerns about distortion of truth in non-fiction, as described by Bookstooge, though I don’t know nearly enough about these specific people or their work to label them quite that way. If it’s written as historical fiction then no problem. But if it’s trying to portray itself as historical fact while actually being historical fiction, I think that’s a problem. Either way, though, I enjoyed the review.
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Thanks for reading, Todd! Indeed, you’ll probably gain much more from reaching a pure non-fiction novel on the subject than with this comic but if you’re looking for something less traditional, that offers an original tale that tries to capture other themes (e.g. madness, beliefs, etc.), then this non-fiction graphic novel serves as a great entry point for the subject matter. I usually don’t have an issue with how it represents facts because I would never use this as my sole reference and would look into other sources to better understand and grasp historical facts. Hopefully people who do pick this up will know that it isn’t meant to be the Bible of the quest for foundations in mathematics hahaha
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And hopefully this sort of media will attract folks who might have otherwise never approached these topics. And who knows, they might actually gain an appreciation for, and in some cases maybe an enjoyment of these topics and choose to explore further. If so then this comic will have done a great thing. And guess what? If someone reading your review becomes one of those folks, then YOU will have done a great thing. 🙂
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Great review and cool exhibit, Lashaan! Always looking forward to your posts!
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Thank you so much! I really appreciate the support. It means a lot to me. Thank you! 🙂
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Niice, this sounds super interesting! I do really like maths (despite the field that I’m now working in), especially when it becomes super abstract, so I have the feeling that I would like this comic book 😊 But I have to say that the title really sounds like an Asterix character 😂
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It doesn’t go deep into the mathematics but looks into ideas, philosophies, and whatnot, so it’s totally accessible for anyone. Definitely worth checking out if you’re even a little curious by it all! Hahahaha it could’ve totally been one indeed! 😛 Thanks for reading, Juliette! 😀
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