Alan M. Turing
Alan M. Turing
Martin Davis
Lyn Irvine
John Turing
'In a short life he accomplished much, and to the roll of great names in the history of his particular studies added his own.' So is described one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century, yet Alan Turing's name was not widely recognised until his contribution to the breaking of the German Enigma code became public in the 1970s. The story of Turing's life fascinates and in the years since his suicide, Turing's reputation has only grown, as his contributions to logic, mathematics, computing, artificial intelligence and computational biology have become better appreciated. To commemorate the centenary of Turing's birth, this republication of his mother's biography is enriched by a new foreword by Martin Davis and a never-before-published memoir by Alan's older brother. The contrast between this memoir and the original biography reveals tensions and sheds new light on Turing's relationship with his family, and on the man himself.
- Never-before-published contribution from Alan's brother, John Turing
- Unique personal insights from family, friends, teachers and colleagues
- Charts Turing's life from early childhood through to his death in 1954
Reviews & endorsements
'The book is full of brilliant treasures, anecdotal accounts of Turing's eccentricity and genius, and insights into his science … This little book, with its kaleidoscopic picture of Alan Turing's short life, goes some way towards de-coding his mind, and his family.' The Guardian
'Well-written and tackles some of Turing's mathematical work.' Engineering and Technology
'… the readers of the new edition can benefit from a previously unpublished memoir by Alan's older brother John, as well as a new foreword by Martin Davis; both texts provide a different view of Alan Turing, and represent a nice complement to the main part of the book.' Antonin Slavik, Zentralblatt MATH
Product details
April 2012Adobe eBook Reader
9781139335348
0 pages
0kg
7 b/w illus.
This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
- Foreword to the Centenary Edition Martin Davis
- Preface to the First Edition
- Foreword to the First Edition Lyn Irvine
- Preface
- Part I. Mainly Biographical:
- 1. Family background
- 2. Childhood and early boyhood
- 3. At Sherborne school
- 4. At Cambridge
- 5. At the Graduate College, Princeton
- 6. Some characteristics
- 7. War work in the Foreign Office
- 8. At the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington
- 9. Work with the Manchester Automatic Digital Machine
- 10. Broadcasts and intelligent machinery
- 11. Morphogenesis
- 12. Relaxation
- 13. Last days and some tributes
- Part II. Containing Computing Machinery and Morphogenesis:
- 14. Computing machinery
- 15. Chemical theory of morphogenesis considered
- My brother Alan John Turing
- Bibliography
- Index.
