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Alan had proved that there was no "miraculous machine" that could solve all mathematical problems, but in the process he had discovered something almost equally miraculous, the idea of a universal machine that could take over the work of any machine.
During World War II, Turing was the intellectual star of Bletchley Park, the secret British cryptography unit. His work cracking the German's Enigma machine code was, in many ways, the first triumph of computer science. And Turing died because his identity as a homosexual was incompatible with cold-war ideas of security, implemented with machines and remorseless logic: "It was his own invention, and it killed the goose that laid the golden eggs."
Andrew Hodges's remarkable insight weaves Turing's mathematical and computer work with his personal life to produce one of the best biographies of our time, and the basis of the Derek Jacobi movie Breaking the Code. Hodges has the mathematical knowledge to explain the intellectual significance of Turing's work, while never losing sight of the human and social picture:
In this sense his life belied his work, for it could not be contained by the discrete state machine. At every stage his life raised questions about the connection (or lack of it) between the mind and the body, thought and action, intelligence and operations, science and society, the individual and history.
And Hodges admits what all biographers know, but few admit, about their subjects: "his inner code remains unbroken." Alan Turing is still an enigma. --Mary Ellen Curtin
"One of the finest scientific biographies I've ever read: authoritative, superbly researched, deeply sympathetic, and beautifully told."--Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind
"A captivating, compassionate portrait of a first-rate scientist who gave so much to a world that in the end cruelly rejected him. Perceptive and absorbing, Andrew Hodges's book is scientific biography at its best."--Paul Hoffman, author of The Man Who Loved Only Numbers
"A remarkable and admirable biography."--Simon Singh, author of The Code Book and Fermat's Enigma
"A first-rate presentation of the life of a first-rate scientific mind.... It is hard to imagine a more thoughtful and compassionate portrait of a human being."--from the Foreword by Douglas Hofstadter
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Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780099116417
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. The full story behind the persecuted genius of wartime codebreaking and the computer revolution - now an Oscar-winning film starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira KnightleyIncludes a new foreword by the author and a preface by Douglas Hofstadter.Alan Turing was the extraordinary Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma ciphers and transformed the Second World War. But his vision went far beyond this crucial achievement. Before the war he had formulated the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer.Turing's far-sighted plans for the digital era forged ahead into a vision for Artificial Intelligence. However, in 1952 his homosexuality rendered him a criminal and he was subjected to humiliating treatment. In 1954, aged 41, Alan Turing committed suicide and one of Britain's greatest scientific minds was lost. Includes a new foreword by the author and a preface by Douglas Hofstadter.Alan Turing was the extraordinary Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma ciphers and transformed the Second World War. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780099116417
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 608 pages. 7.80x5.08x1.50 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0099116413
Book Description Condition: New. 1992. New Ed. Paperback. Alan Turing was the extraordinary Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma ciphers and transformed the Second World War. But his vision went far beyond this crucial achievement. This book tells his story. Num Pages: 768 pages, 1. BIC Classification: 1DBKE; 2AB; BG; DSK; U. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 131 x 198 x 41. Weight in Grams: 572. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780099116417
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Alan Turing was the extraordinary Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma ciphers and transformed the Second World War. In 1954, aged 41, Alan Turing committed suicide and one of Britain's greatest scientific minds was lost. Seller Inventory # B9780099116417
Book Description Condition: New. 1992. New Ed. Paperback. Alan Turing was the extraordinary Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma ciphers and transformed the Second World War. But his vision went far beyond this crucial achievement. This book tells his story. Num Pages: 768 pages, 1. BIC Classification: 1DBKE; 2AB; BG; DSK; U. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 131 x 198 x 41. Weight in Grams: 572. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780099116417
Book Description Condition: New. Book is in NEW condition. Seller Inventory # 0099116413-2-1