Alan turing s crucial unscrambling of german messages in. He was already working parttime for the british governments code and cypher school before the second world war broke out. Alan turing and the invention of the computer david leavitt w. Apr 10, 2015 the enigma of alan turing alan turingan english mathematician, logician, and cryptanalystwas a computer pioneer. A new york times bestseller the official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley it is only a slight exaggeration to say that the british mathematician alan. The author has obviously spent a lot of time researching many facets of alan turing s life and work. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition paperback by andrew hodges, andrew hodges on. A gripping story of mathematics, science, computing, war history, cryptography, and homosexual persecution and liberation.
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. 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. The enigma 1983 is a biography of the british mathematician, codebreaker, and early computer scientist, alan turing 19121954 by andrew hodges. Alan turing 191254 was a british mathematician who made history. The book could be simpler and could meet the need of a great biography.
Hodges biography is thoroughly researched into all aspects of turing s li. Alan turing was driven to a terrible despair and early death by the nation hed done so much to save. Thanks to indepth biographies like andrew hodges alan turing. Born in london in 1912, he studied at both cambridge and princeton universities.
I wont lie to you, i knew very little about alan turing or the whole bletchley park thing before reading this book. He is considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence, and his theories on this matter range from purely mechanical to almost spiritual. Before the war he had formulated the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the. Read alan turing and enigma machine by alan moon available from rakuten kobo.
Andrew hodges biography of the british mathematician, alan turing 19121954 is listed as one of the essential 50 books. In 1940 his machines were breaking the enigma enciphered messages of nazi germanys air force. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition kindle edition by hodges, andrew, hofstadter, douglas, hodges, andrew. Turing brought the idea to practical realization in 1945 with his electronic design. Heres all the research weve gathered on alan turing. This is both a biography of alan turing and an alternative history of ww2 and it handles both brilliantly.
The official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley. What connects india to alan turing, the genius who helped solve hitlers unsolvable enigma. Learn how this eccentric oddity changed the world and did it almost entirely in secret. Anthony mason visits with actor benedict cumberbatch to talk about his role as mathematician alan turing in the imitation game, a new film recounting turing. The imitation game is a 2014 american historical drama film directed by morten tyldum and written by graham moore, based on the biography alan turing. The enigma 1983 is a biography of the british mathematician. Site maintained by publisher princeton university press. It stars benedict cumberbatch as british cryptanalyst alan turing, who decrypted german intelligence messages for the british government during the second world war. Thanks to the movie the imitation game, alan turing has emerged from historys shadows, where his memory had languished for decades. Along with a lucid exposition of turing s achievements, hodges reveals an amusing. Turing is most famous for his cryptanalysis work at bletchley park during the second world war. Taken on by british intelligence in 1938, as a shy young cambridge don, he combined brilliant logic with a flair for engineering. Both turing s cracking of the enigma code and his prosecution of gross indecency are mis portrayed in the film.
I think the aspect of the book that i most grasped and that was the most thoughtprovoking was turing. If you read the book you will realise that the film distorts aspects of turing s live and work quite considerably. Alan mathisonturning and the enigma machine a talk for the astronomical society of harringey by michael morris franks 2. The enigma, is the indispensable guide to turings life and work and one of the finest biographies of a scientific genius ever written. Read the amazing life of this english mathematician and logician, alan turing, who helps crack the enigma code during wo. But his vision went far beyond this crucial achievement. Cairncross was at bletchley park, but he was in a different unit from turing. Its a contentious question, says andrew hodges, author of the acclaimed biography alan turing. Nov 30, 2012 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.
Desert hawk the true story of stocky edwards, world war ii flying ace ebook. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read turing. Like alan turing, zuse was educated in a system that focused on a childs emotional and philosophical life as well as his intellectual life, and at the end of school, like turing, zuse found himself to be something of an outsiderto the disappointment of his very conventional parents, he no longer believed in god or religion. Whilst the title describes turing as an enigma, the author has put together and very sensitive and credible view of alan turing, the person, portraying him as a man deeply conflicted due to his pivotal position in the secret war effort at a time when male homosexuality was illegal. Andrew hodges alan turing the enigma part 02 audiobook. The tragic life of alan turing ebook written by fergus mason. During world war ii, his decryption of the nazis enigma codes proved vital for the allied victory over the axis powers. Nope, i am not one of those amusingly titled ladies who call themselves cumberbitches it was just that this book was on offer a few years ago and i willynillily clicked buy it now.
The enigma of alan turing central intelligence agency. Oct 26, 2014 anthony mason visits with actor benedict cumberbatch to talk about his role as mathematician alan turing in the imitation game, a new film recounting turing s heroic and tragic life story. Hinsley and alan stripp, the 39 steps by john buchan and from russia. I read it when it first came out in 1983, and immediately formed the ambition to write something similar about ludwig wittgenstein. The enigma by andrew hodges and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Apr 29, 2012 a missing message from alan turing surfaces as part of the celebrations for his 100th birthday. Hodges tells how turing s revolutionary idea of 1936 the concept of a universal machine laid the foundation for the modern computer. 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. What the imitation game didnt tell you about turings. Jun 30, 2015 a new york times bestseller the official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley 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. Sep 16, 2014 alan s experiences were what they were because of who he was, and, in turn, these experiences made him into the man, the enigma he became. Jun 23, 20 alan turing broke the german enigma code during world war ii and devised the turing machine and the turing test of computer intelligence.
I would recommend it to those journalists who think of alan turing as only a two dimensional figure. That amt bathed naked, i know from a photograph of him taken on the rocky coast of sark. Turing s rehabilitation from over a quartercenturys embarrassed silence was largely the result of andrew hodgess superb biography, alan turing. If i had to describe this book in one word, it would be. The middle sections of the book, explaining first alan s pioneering work as a young mathemetician, then his contribution to cracking the enigma system, and then his diversion into the design and operation of early computers, were a really interesting read.
Pages from alan turing s report on the enigma, 1940 the profs book, or turing s treatise on the enigma see the alan turing home page for a guide to this website. During wwii he worked to break the german enigma codes while suffering under considerable social pressure for being gay. The conflicted life of an ordinary english homosexual atheist mathematician. The enigma andrew hodges is tutor in mathematics at wadham. Alan turings influence will appear again in other articles on this site, beginning with this piece. Alan turing an english mathematician, logician, and cryptanalystwas a computer pioneer. Dec 27, 2015 a team of scientists, mathematicians and cryptographers are credited with cracking the enigma code. Biography audiobooks andrew hodges alan turing the enigma part 02. Hodgess rich and engrossing portrait is not the first book about turing. Hodges examined available primary sources and interviewed surviving witnesses to elucidate turing s multiple dimensions. What connects india to alan turing, the genius who helped. The american 2014 film the imitation game is loosely based on the book, with dramatization.
The enigma, is the indispensable guide to turings life and work and one of the finest biographies of a scientific. Alan mathison turing, 191254, british mathematician and computer theorist. Alan turing 19121954, of cryptanalysis and computer fame. Book description vintage publishing, united kingdom, 1992. How alan turing cracked the enigma code imperial war museums. I think the aspect of the book that i most grasped and that was the most thoughtprovoking was turing s ideas about machine intelligence. The three young polish mathematicians who were the first to crack the new german military enigma code got their faces on. Alan turing was the extraordinary cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the german enigma ciphers and transformed the second world war. This smallish book 128 pages is well written and very informative. If one has seen the movie and liked it, one is going to love this too.
Nov 09, 2014 i dont think i thought turing was an enigma after reading this book. The real story of how enigma was broken dermot turing the history press 2018. The enigma, which is one of the finest scientific biographies ever written, and has remained an essential resource for all subsequent accounts of turings life. It appeared in in september 2000 in a special edition of british heritage magazine. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading alan turing. The enigma by alan hodges this powerful and evocative historical drama explores the life of the man who broke too many codes. You will see it on this page of my alan turing internet scrapbook page 67. This lecture was recorded on december 7, 2014one of the last in a series of over 350 distinguished science lectures presented by the skeptics society since 1992. The enigma of wwii codebreaker alan turing youtube. The man who built the worlds first programmable digital computer, alan turing is now celebrated for his codecracking work that proved vital to the allies in world war two. 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. It may act as an apology to many of the other gay men, not as wellknown as alan turing, who were subjected to these laws.
It also has an excellent index at the end and a further reading section. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition by andrew hodges. Birthplace alan turing was born in a nursing home in paddington, london on 23 june 1912. The enigma by andrew hodges is an enigma in its own right. Moore finally got the chance to pen a turing script when he was hired by the producers, who owned the rights to andrew hodgess acclaimed 1983 biography, alan turing. Alan turing died in 1954, but the themes of his life epitomize the turn of the millennium. His musings on biology and religion suggest a very profound mind.
His breaking of the german uboat enigma cipher in world war ii ensured alliedamerican control of the atlantic. The book that inspired the film the imitation game by andrew hodges. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition as of april 2020. The enigma, and film depictions of turing s life, like the imitation game, based on hodges book, alan turing is quickly becoming a household name, as people begin to recognize that his contributions to various fields were so influential they actually changed the course of. List of books and articles about alan turing online. A missing message from alan turing surfaces as part of the celebrations for his 100th birthday. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition hodges, andrew, hodges, andrew, hofstadter, douglas on. Often remembered for his contributions to the fields of artificial intelligence and modern computer science before either even existed, turing is probably best known for what is now dubbed the turing test. A copy of this handbook was at last released from secrecy by the american national security agency in april 1996, under the title turing s. He proved that a universal turing machine, with a collection of symbols and one infinite tape, could simulate all the computers man can ever create. In late 1940 alan turing wrote a report describing the methods he and his colleagues at bletchley park had used to break into the german enigma cipher systems. If you read the book you will find the film the imitation game utterly unconvincing, as it totally ignores the huge intellectual activity going on at bletchley park. As turings biographer andrew hodges, on whose book this film is. I have little new to add and must join all of the others here in saying that andrew hodges alan turing.
Andrew hodges, and henrik olesen, the artist behind some illustrations to the life of alan turing, both depict the young alan turing as a child inquisitive, and bright beyond his. Alan turing was the mathematician whose ciphercracking transformed the second world war. 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. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The enigma, both british and american, appeared in 2014 the new british edition is from vintage, random house, london, and the new american edition is from princeton university press these new editions are virtually identical with a new 2014 preface, and a foreword by douglas hofstadter. Includes a new foreword by the author and a preface by douglas hofstadter. The book not informs you on alan, but puts him in context in history both in the uk, usa and the world. A brief panic over running out of things to read led me to poll my twitter followers for suggestions, andrew hodges biography of alan turing, alan turing. A rare notebook of alan turings which dates back to his work breaking the enigma code is expected to sell at auction for at least. Nov 14, 2014 alan turing was the mathematician whose ciphercracking transformed the second world war. The enigma by andrew hodges, the code book by simon singh, codebreakers by f. The enigma, is the indispensable guide to turing s life and work and one of the finest biographies of a scientific genius ever written. Two decades ago, a mathematician named andrew hodges published alan turing.
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