Alan Turing: The Enigma
Books | Biography & Autobiography / Science & Technology
3.9
(52)
Andrew Hodges
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe official book behind the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira KnightleyIt is only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912–1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades—all before his suicide at age forty-one. This New York Times bestselling biography of the founder of computer science, with a new preface by the author that addresses Turing’s royal pardon in 2013, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life.Capturing both the inner and outer drama of Turing’s life, Andrew Hodges tells how Turing’s revolutionary idea of 1936—the concept of a universal machine—laid the foundation for the modern computer and how Turing brought the idea to practical realization in 1945 with his electronic design. The book also tells how this work was directly related to Turing’s leading role in breaking the German Enigma ciphers during World War II, a scientific triumph that was critical to Allied victory in the Atlantic. At the same time, this is the tragic account of a man who, despite his wartime service, was eventually arrested, stripped of his security clearance, and forced to undergo a humiliating treatment program—all for trying to live honestly in a society that defined homosexuality as a crime.The inspiration for a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, Alan Turing: The Enigma is a gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution.
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Andrew Hodges
Pages
768
Publisher
Princeton University Press
Published Date
2014-11-10
ISBN
1400865123 9781400865123
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"Details of Turing's life and his mathematical reasoning were interesting and the author did a nice job laying out the details (perhaps could've used more diagrams later on, but generally quite good). <br/><br/>Unlike some biographies, it feels like significant effort was applied to form and writing style. Unfortunately, this is to the book's detriment-- the author would have done better to just be direct. I would've found enough depth and interest in the subject itself without having to wade through a thicket of metaphors and far-flung allusions. It would be one thing if the recurring imagery (Red Queen, White Queen, Dorothy) coalesced into some kind of meaningful theme, but often it feels that the author is throwing them in at random to spice things up. The effect is pedantic and needlessly confusing. Moreover, the last chapter is kind of a mess-- without the chronological structure of Turing's life on which to base the narrative, the story flaps around, cycling between weak suggestions of motive for Turing's death, the fate of the pertinent computers, future treatment of homosexual people in British society, and back again.<br/><br/>For those faults I found Alan Turing: The Enigma to be a merely 'okay' read. However, I understand that writing is not the focus of most biographies. Credit where credit is due, Hodges does justice to both math and man, and beneath the thicket lies a story that is both comprehensive and interesting."
M T
"Wow, what an in-depth examination of the man's life. Probably too much for most people but being a software developer interested in machine learning (and having lived in England) I was gripped the whole way. 700+ pages of smallish print makes for a long read. His suicide seems such a waste of life and talent. Hard to know if he was just having a bad day or something deeper. If he had hung on for a few more years it would have been the 60s and being gay would have got easier. His thoughts on computer design before any computers existed were amazing - he really was a visionary in that sense. I am glad he is getting more recognition now (than at the time of his death)."
John Woakes