Not only was he a mathematician, logician, and cryptanalyst, he was also one of the most influential figures in the modeling of the first. A photo included in a 2012 bletchley park exhibition on the life of alan turing. This biography of turing provided the inspiration for the screenplay written by graham moore for the imitation game, directed by morten tyldu and released this month. Inside the opera about alan turing, codebreaker and lgbt hero. Site maintained by publisher princeton university press. Its subject, the british mathematical genius who contributed to the cryptanalysis of the nazi enigma code and to the beginnings of the computer, was not an easy subject. Decoding the turing family the story of alan turing has a hold on the worlds imagination. They will be in perpetual development as the internet expands. The enigma by andrew hodges is an enigma in its own right. Alan turing is often called the father of modern computing. 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. Newman, biographical memoirs of fellows of the royal society. More importantly, he was brave enough to admit his homosexuality in the 1950s. Before getting into bed the night before, he had taken a few.
Cnet gets a deeper look at the hidden notebook from the father of modern computing, before it goes up for auction. Turings mother believed that the ingestion was accidental, resulting from her sons careless storage of laboratory chemicals. More than 60 years after codebreaker alan turings death in an apparent suicide, his battle with his sexuality and longing for a permanent relationship have emerged in three previously. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading alan m. Part i of alan turing, father of the modern computer provides an overview of turings many major contributions to the development of the computer and computingincluding his pioneering work in the areas now called artificial intelligence and artificial life part ii tells the story of turings ace. Turing centenary gay love story and the invention of the. 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. Many online papers including a short overview biography of alan turing.
He developed a way to decipher encrypted code from the germans enigma machines which saved hundreds of lives during the war. Although she did not personally seek the spotlight, her role in the enigma project that decrypted nazi germanys secret communications earned her awards and citations, such as. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Great story, but i thought the execution could have been smoother, and the. Alan turing 191254 was a british mathematician who made history. An enormous and probably definitive guide to the life, times and genius of alan turing. The official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley alan turing was the mathematician whose ciphercracking transformed the second world war.
This is simply one of the best tales in the history of computers. Letters reveal alan turings battle with his sexuality. Alan turings 100th birthday the code for this doodle has been open sourced. Informal pages with pictures, links, and extra comment for browsing. R e v i e w s the centenary edition, 2012 turings rehabilitation from over a quartercenturys embarrassed silence was largely the result of andrew hodgess superb biography, alan turing. A guided tour through alan turings historic paper on computability and the turing machine by charles petzold jun 16, 2008 4. The enigma 1983 is a biography of the british mathematician, codebreaker, and early computer. The book also tells how this work was directly related to turings leading role in breaking the german enigma ciphers during world war ii, a. The book explains turings proof of the existence of a universal computing machine in a way that is understandable to readers with little background in mathematics or computer science, but it also includes a more mathematically sophisticated explanation that would satisfy readers with more background. Alan mathison turing was born on 23 june 1912, the son of julius mathison turing, a civil servant in india, and ethel sara turing, the daughter of edward waller stoney, chief engineer of the madras and southern mahratta railway. Even by the eccentric standards of cambridge university in the 1930s, alan turing was a mess. Rare alan turing journal shows his genius at work cnet.
Alan turing was a british logician and cryptologist, celebrated for cracking the german naval enigma code during world war ii at the government codes and ciphers school at bletchley park, uk. Benedict cumberbatch as alan turing in the imitation game, 2014. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the british mathematician alan turing 19121954 saved the allies from the nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decadesall before his. During the second world war he worked for the government breaking the enemies codes and churchill said he shortened the war by two years. Alan turing was a genius, a loner, and had few friends.
The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition hodges, andrew, hodges, andrew, hofstadter, douglas on. Ive been fascinated by the computer science pioneer alan turing ever. Hang your posters in dorms, bedrooms, offices, or anywhere blank walls arent welcome. With the four volumes of the previously published collected works now scarce and very expensive, this volume fills a pressing need in turing scholarship. He developed the idea of the modern computer and artificial intelligence. 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. The alan turing internet scrapbook these pages are full of images and links to exploit the interactive and cooperative world of the web as created by alan turings invention, the computer. The american 2014 film the imitation game is loosely based on the book, with dramatization. Alan turing became friends with christopher morcom in1928. Which alan turing movie really captures the father of.
Alan turing was a completely original thinker who shaped the modern world, but. In 1959, four years after alan turings suicide just shy of the age of 42, his mother sara published her biography alan m. Turing dedicated a significant portion of his life to the study of morphogenesis the biological process by which organisms take their shape. It started with a love story, and a gay love story at that. Alan turing june 23, 1912june 7, 1954 is celebrated as the godfather of modern computing, but what remains practically unknown is his seminal contribution to an obscure branch of biology.
Alan mathison turing 23 june 1912 7 june 1954, was an english mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist. Alan turing, in full alan mathison turing, born june 23, 1912, london, englanddied june 7, 1954, wilmslow, cheshire, british mathematician and logician, who made major contributions to mathematics, cryptanalysis, logic, philosophy, and mathematical biology and also to the new areas later named computer science, cognitive science. Anyway, i stumbled across this book the same author as the amazing feynman graphic novel. The enigma, by wadhams tutorial fellow in mathematics dr andrew hodges, was originally published in 1983. Scans and transcripts of original documents archives and photographs complete bibliography of turings papers. Reading it is a melancholy experience, since you know from the outset that the ending is a tragic one and that knowledge overshadows you throughout.
Seminal writings in computing, logic, philosophy, artificial intelligence, and artificial life plus the secrets of enigma. 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. He had the ingenuity and imagination to bridge the gap between the theory of computation as posed by the likes of godel and the implementation of computation machines. A new york times bestseller the official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley.
Adhemar bultheel, european mathematical society this book is an incredibly detailed and meticulously researched biography of alan turing. The machine was imaginary, but it included the idea of a computer program. I think the aspect of the book that i most grasped and that was the most thought. Biographer andrew hodges theorised that turing arranged the delivery of the equipment to deliberately allow his mother plausible deniability with regard to any suicide claims.
Alan turing author of computing machinery and intelligence. The enigma, is the indispensable guide to turings life and work and one of the finest biographies of a scientific. The book is also the basis for the upcoming movie, the imitation game. Shortly after, his elder brother john began his own alternative. He should be alive today compuer love in a memoir, alan turings late elder brother john recounts the details of alans shocking suicide. The idea that led to the invention of the computer, an idea that alan turing put forward in his 1936 paper computable numbers, did not start with a mathematical puzzle. Bletchley park has a replica of alan turings codebreaking machine, but the filmmakers couldnt exactly borrow it and let benedict cumberbatch play with it. Alan turing is someone people will look up to for eternity and as long as we follow his ideals of having strong morals, and being noble, will we live good lives. Articles and press cuttings referring to amt and his work. His breaking of the german uboat enigma cipher in world war ii. The young mathematics student wore a jacket and tie, of course, just as all.
They dont try to give a complete picture and they dont have a consistent style. This little book, with its kaleidoscopic picture of alan turings short life, goes some way towards. At an early age he lost his best friend and a partner. Alan turing is one of historys first computer scientists. The life and deaths of alan turing, composed by justine chen with a libretto by david simpatico, is the first fullscale opera about turings life and hopes to do justice to turings story. On june 8, 1954, alan turing, a fortyoneyearold research scientist at manchester university, was found dead by his housekeeper. One can clearly tell alans mother was very proud of him, it was too much distraction from his actual personality trait, which clearly his mother was not this book is presented as a biography by a mother of his son. Alan turing was needed to save the war for the allies and his work now inspires generations of young minds. Turing was one of the people who worked on the first computers. Centenary edition kindle edition by turing, sara, davis, martin, irvine, lyn, turing, john. Taken on by british intelligence in 1938, as a shy young cambridge don, he combined brilliant logic with a flair for engineering.
Turing, father of the modern computer rutherford journal. He worked for the british government during world war ii, when he succeeded in breaking the secret code germany used to communicate. He made major contributions to the fields of mathematics, computer science, and artificial intelligence. I have little new to add and must join all of the others here in saying that andrew hodges alan turing. To read this is to feel humbled, not just by alan turings brilliant mind, but also by the years of dedicated work that andrew hodges put into this biography. Alan mathison turing was born on 23 june 1912, the second and last child after his brother john of julius mathison and ethel sara turing. The university of manchester renames the complex housing the school of mathematics and the centre for astrophysics as the alan turing building. In response to a petition signed by thousands of people, the prime minister, gordon brown issues a public apology in which he describes the treatment of alan turing as appalling. The classic biography of the founder of computer science. Fascinated by the presence of fibonacci numbers in the. Nor can i complain of the passage in my mothers book where she describes how he looked as a man, for the very good reason that her.
1290 1077 732 371 225 60 1641 1484 602 1161 1048 89 379 1476 673 1139 817 443 993 663 1211 236 1411 1087 937 290 1305 469 125 989 726 1295 966