[net.math] alan turing

ron@uokvax.UUCP (05/03/84)

#N:uokvax:3300003:000:2018
uokvax!ron    May  2 20:57:00 1984


i just finished a new book, 'alan turing, the enigma'.  i highly recommend
it to anyone who wants to read a really good, in depth book about turing.

it covers turing's entire life, and then some.  the main topics are:

	his ancestory, then his childhood
	his pre-college schooling
	his college schooling
	his paper, 'computable numbers' (= the turing machine)
	his work (and others) on the enigma
	his work (and others, ie  von neuman etc. ) on computers
	his trial for homosexuality
	his death (suicide)
	after his death

the math is not too complex.  i'm a typical graduating CS major, who still
runs away from large integrals, but it wasn't over my head.  in fact, i
learned some new things.  the author was andrew hodges, (phd at cambridge
in physics, i believe).  the book is good if you want to simply read about
turing's life, or if you want to know about the turing machine, or if you want
to know about the enigma, or if you want to know about the 'race' to build
the first 'real' computer.  it covered all of these topics rather well.
another overriding theme was turings homosexuality, and his place (or lack
thereof) in society.  turing was a INTERESTING person(gay, atheist, brilliant, 
VERY absent minded, etc. etc.).  i could go on and on singing praises for 
the book, but i'll just say i thought it was one of the better books i'
ve read in a while.  an interesting angle comes from the fact the author 
is also homosexual, and he provides many insights as to what turing had 
gone through.  seems like i learned a lot about many different things reading
this book: turing, the goings on between mathematicians, the life of
a homosexual, all about england during the WWII and on and on and on....

in summary:
the book is called  'alan turing, the enigma', by andrew hodges.  it's
published by 'simon and schuster'.  i think it's only out in hardback
right now, (i got it out of a library) for around $22.00 or so.  well
worth reading to anyone who cares about the roots of computer science.


	ron