Alan M. Turing

by Sara Turing

Paper Book, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

510.92

Collection

Publication

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Description

'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.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member EricJT
It is good to have Sara Turing's biography of her son made available in his centenary year, even if it perhaps tells the reader as much about her as about him. His brother's attitude to Alan's homosexuality is a frightening reminder of attitudes in what I assume were the 1950s, though there seems
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to be no indication of when the memoir as published here was written. [Reference is made (page xiv) to an earlier version of the document, but only one brief extract is provided.]

Though beautifully produced, I was disappointed to find a book
from a distinguished academic press lacking an index. I was also surprised to see two different expansions of the abbreviation OBE (pages viii and 76) - neither of them correct.

Overall, this is something all Turing collectors will want for their libraries.
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Language

Original publication date

2012-04-23

Physical description

xxiv, 169 p.; 22 cm

ISBN

9781107020580

Barcode

91100000180813

DDC/MDS

510.92
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