Following hot on the heels of the imitation game, this is the first modern biography of alan turing by a member of the familyalans nephew, sir dermot turing. It is a bit ironic that a book whose title implies that alan turing himself is the biggest enigma manages to leave him still an enigma in many ways, but that is the case. Seminal writings in computing, logic, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and. The official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley. Alan turing 191254 was a british mathematician who made history.
The enigma, biography of alan turing 19121954 by andrew hodges. What turing told us about the digital threat to a human. Well told and partnered with lovely artwork, this book covers all the major facets of alan turings life but lacks the depth of a biography like. The cover implies, somewhat misleadingly, that the book is now the subject of a major new film, whereas it is, of course, alan turing that is the subject of a major new film, not cawthornes book. Book this book does not require a rating on the projects quality scale. Alan turing decoded, by jim ottaviani and illustrated by leland purvis, presents the life of alan turing as a graphic novel. Alan turings handwritten notebook reveals his genius. A life from beginning to end world war 2 biographies. Newman, biographical memoirs of fellows of the royal society. On the inside front cover of turing s copy of the book is a pencil notation 20, which was standard notation for 20 shillings, equal to.
English scientist alan turing was born alan mathison turing on june 23, 1912, in maida vale, london, england. Alan mathison turing, 191254, british mathematician and computer theorist. The book contains novel information which undermines suggestions that turings suicide was subject to an official coverup. The computer scientist alan turing posed the question and proposed a way to answer it we remember the turing test this way. This book is within the scope of wikiproject computer science, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of computer science related articles on wikipedia. Alan turing author of computing machinery and intelligence. Here is the original picture before the third edition cover was photoshopped in. Cnet gets a deeper look at the hidden notebook from the father of modern computing, before it goes up for auction.
There are many other other much better books on turing, including the. Alan turing, however, remains a fascinating person and when the book dealt with his actual life, it was very interesting. A book from alan turing and a mysterious piece of paper. The book was later made into the 2014 film the imitation game directed by morten tyldum, starring benedict cumberbatch as alan turing. We make it a tradition to show a copy of the book on the cover of the book. At face value its a guided tour of his paper on computability, but is actually somewhat more. Kings library and archives were pleased to join the rest of the college in marking the start of lgbt history month by putting on an exhibition in the library featuring items written by and relating to prominent lgbt kings figures, including the novelist e. The imitation game alexandre desplat piano cover youtube. Firstly i want to cover the book and its difference to the movie, because looking at the words on the print. The american 2014 film the imitation game is loosely based on the book, with dramatization.
Man with an electronic circuit board for a brain, artist unknown, 1949 can machines think. Alan turing this is a wikipedia book, a collection of wikipedia articles that can be easily saved, imported by an external electronic rendering service, and ordered as a printed book. I opened the front of the book, wondering if it might have a property of alan turing sticker or something. Alan grew up in england, where his best friends were numbers and a litt. Alan turing, the enigma by andrew hodges librarything. Seminal writings in computing, logic, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and artificial life plus the secrets of enigma edited by b. After viewing the imitation game, i was intrigued by alan turing.
The enigma is written by mathematician andrew hodges and is narrated in this biographical audiobook edition by gordon griffin. But what it did have in addition to an inscription saying from alan turing s books was a colorful fourpage note from norman routledge to george rutter, written in 2002. The cover picture relates to a nondocumentary americanproduced film. I think the aspect of the book that i most grasped and that was the most thoughtprovoking was turings ideas about machine intelligence. A gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution, andrew hodgess acclaimed book captures both the inner and outer drama of turing s life. Dermot turing is the author of prof, the acclaimed biography of alan turing. If you prefer to read reference material, which is how i believe this book should be classified, then knock yourself out. What, in your opinion is the best book to read about alan. Hodgess is the best book, but the annotated turing is worth a mention, especially if you re more interested in the work than the man.
It covers turings awkwardness surrounding his sexuality in an encouragingly sensitive way. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the turing machine, which can be considered a model of a generalpurpose computer. Hodges tells how turing s revolutionary idea of 1936the concept of a universal machinelaid the foundation for the modern computer and how turing brought the idea to. Alan mathison turing 23 june 1912 7 june 1954, was an english mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist. Alan turing, while a mathematics student at the university of cambridge, was inspired by german mathematician david hilberts formalist program, which sought to demonstrate that any mathematical problem can potentially be solved by an algorithmthat is, by a purely mechanical process. He spent his career in the legal profession after graduating from cambridge and oxford, and is a trustee of bletchley park. His work and impact on turing s work in simplet terms, placing him in the bigger picture. Alan turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into a life of only 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist, and biologist. The enigma formed the basis of hugh whitemores 1986 stageplay breaking the code, which was adapted by for television in 1996, with derek jacobi as turing. The book went on to be inspiration for the 2014 academy awardnominated film the imitation game. A life from beginning to end world war 2 biographies book 7 kindle edition by history, hourly.
At a young age, he displayed signs of high intelligence, which. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the turing machine, which played a significant role in the creation of the modern computer. And also this book portrays alan s personal life, explains his love for freedom, truth and integrity, how he stood up to prejudices of society until he died. Alan turing has long proved a subject of fascination, but following the centenary of his birth in 2012, the codebreaker, computer pioneer, mathematician and much more has become even more celebrated with much media coverage, and several meetings, conferences and books raising public awareness of turing s life and work. This is not the easiest read, but well worth putting a bit of extra effort in to complete the book. His breaking of the german uboat enigma cipher in world war ii ensured alliedamerican control of the atlantic. Forster and codebreaker alan turing, along with a display of borrowable lgbtthemed books. Alan mathison turing obe frs was an english mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition. A biography of the mathematician, reveals the story of an eccentric genius, olympicclass runner, and groundbreaking theoretician whose work is still influencing the science and telecommunication systems of the modern world. Something on turing s work, with many very competent authors writing parts of this giant book.
Dermot turing found correspondence from his father indicating that turing was having relationship issues with a man named roy near to his death. Hodges examined available primary sources and interviewed surviving witnesses to elucidate turing s multiple dimensions. This book goes into a lot of depth about mathematical problems and equations but all the interesting aspects of mr. Alan turing 19121954 alan turing, who described the turing test and did fundamental work in artificial intelligence and the theory of computation.
If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks. This book celebrates the 90th anniversary of the birth of alan turing by bringing together a large set of essays on topics as diverse and colourful as the work and life of the man himself. The enigma 1983 is a biography of the british mathematician, codebreaker, and early computer scientist, alan turing 19121954 by andrew hodges. Alan turing the enigma is long, very detailed and is some places drags. Although the author is a gay rights activist himself, as well as a mathematician, and wrote this book in part to try to see alan turing s life from a sympathetic point of view, some of his narration comes across as coy to the point of obscurityhe mentions turing s trip to sweden, but it is not till much later that it finally becomes clear that he went there to pick up young men. While studying at cambridge he began work in predicate logic that led to a proof 1937 that some mathematical problems are not susceptible to solution by automated computation. Alan turing was an intense personality, not the autistic enigma portrayed in the film. Turing s rehabilitation from over a quartercenturys embarrassed silence was largely the result of andrew hodgess superb biography, alan turing. The other was alan turing, who pointed out in the 1930s that, with boolean algebra, only three logical functions are.
Gchq celebrates the life and legacy of alan turing at launch of a. Turings fundamental contributions to computing kick started the modern computing era. I was inspired to read the book in part because ive been reading lots of airelated books this year 1 and in just about every one of those books, alan turing is mention in some. Alan turing enigma by hodges andrew, first edition abebooks. But turing s vision went far beyond the desperate wartime struggle. Many times i wanted to put the book away, but i finished it in spite of myself. Alan turing decoded is a biography written by turings nephew, sir dermot turing, and celebrates an. Alan turings automatic computing engine book cover. I think the aspect of the book that i most grasped and that was the most thoughtprovoking was turing s ideas about machine intelligence. Well told and partnered with lovely artwork, this book covers all the major facets of alan turing s life but lacks the depth of a biography like hodges. List of books and articles about alan turing online. Since the film was supposedly inspired by the book, i purchased the book on my kindle. See more ideas about alan turing, book design and best book covers. But turings vision went far beyond the desperate wartime struggle.
The engima, otherwise known as the definitive biography of mathematician, computer scientist, and code breaker alan turing. Rare alan turing journal shows his genius at work cnet. Articles and press cuttings referring to amt and his work. Very satisfying and book which really does put turing on the pedestal he so deserves.
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