[0-393-05236-2] 2006. (hardcover) Fine in very good dust jacket. 319pp. 8vo. Jacket lightly rubbed. Tome is fine. Other titles in the series may be available. Great Discoveries series.

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Bibliographic Details

Title

The Man Who Knew Much; Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer

Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company / Atlas Books, New York, London

ISBN 10

0393052362

ISBN 13

9780393052367

Binding

Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition

Dust Jacket Included

Seller catalogs

Canadiana

About this title

Synopsis

The story of the persecuted genius who helped create the modern computer.

To solve one of the great mathematical problems of his day, Alan Turing proposed an imaginary programmable calculating machine. But the idea of actually producing a "Turing machine" did not crystallize until he and his brilliant Bletchley Park colleagues built devices to crack the Nazis' Enigma code, thus ensuring the Allies' victory in World War II. In so doing, Turing became a champion of artificial intelligence, formulating the famous (and still unbeaten) Turing Test that challenges our ideas of human consciousness. But Turing's postwar computer-building was cut short when, as an openly gay man in a time when homosexuality was officially illegal in England, he was apprehended by the authorities and sentenced to a "treatment" that amounted to chemical castration, leading to his suicide.

With a novelist's sensitivity, David Leavitt portrays Turing in all his humanity—his eccentricities, his brilliance, his fatal candor—while elegantly explaining his work and its implications.

About the Author

David Leavitt is the author of several novels, including most recently The Body of Jonah Boyd, and story collections. He teaches creative writing at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where he lives.

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Established in 1970. We specialize in Prairie Canadiana (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta), Travel & Exploration, The North, and Aboriginal Peoples ("North American Indian"). Although these areas comprise the main sections in the store, they are by no means our only focus! We boast an impressive Literature section, a vast array of Art Books and Gallery Catalogues, a respectable offering of Science & Medicine titles, and drool-worthy cabinets of antiquarian tomes (of course). A member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of Canada (ABAC), the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), and the National Archival Appraisal Board of Canada (NAAB). We do appraisals, for insurance purposes, institutional, or otherwise. Open by chance or appointment. Feel free to call or email!

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Seller's business information

Spafford Books (ABAC / ILAB)
SK, Canada

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Terms of Sale

Credit cards accepted - Visa or Mastercard. Cheques accepted with delayed shipping. Postage
and handling at cost (for example, this normally costs around $20 DN for Expedited mail within
Canada, about $23 S for Expedited USA for a single book, additional books cheaper);
high value, over size, over weight items likely more, please enquire. Insurance or courier service extra.
Any item may be returned within two weeks of receipt; FOR RETURNS FROM OUTSIDE CANADA,
PLEASE CONSULT WITH US BEFORE SHIPPI...

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