Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12788 in Books
• Published on: 1992-03-05
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Synopsis
Andrew Hodges's biography of Alan Turing, the brilliant Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma code and indeed was the the father of the modern computer, was regarded as 'the paperback buy of the season' (Sunday Times) when it was first published. It is now reissued in Vintage with a new preface.

About the Author
Andrew Hodges was born in Suburban London in 1949. Since 1972 he has been working on the theory of twistors - the new approach to the problems of fundamental physics pioneered by the mathematician Roger Penrose. His interest in the mysterious figure of Alan Turing developed partly from his mathematical background, but also from his participation in the gay liberation movement of the 1970s. In 1977 he decided only a full-length biography of Turing could do justice to the issues involved, and this, his first full-length book, appeared in 1983. He has since returned to mathematics and is a Research Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford University.

Customer Reviews

Be Prepared to be Enthralled
This was a thoroughly enjoyable read that shed enormous light on a figure I knew about only dimly before, having studied Turing Machines as part of my degree. This is a good book on many levels, provoking thought about the history of computing as well as that of Britain 1939-1954. Above all it is a book about a complex individual who did not fit easily into society for a number of reasons. In this sense the book has something to say to us all.

Book about Turing NOT Poles
With respect to the previous reviewer this book is about Alan Turing. It is not called "How the Poles broke Enigma". Don't criticise a book for not doing something it never set out to do in the first place. Turing's genius stretched way beyond "merely" breaking codes.

Some important missing points
I appreciate the great work of Andrew Hodges, the book is quite detailed and interesting. However, it is widely known that it was not Alan Turing and the Bletchley Park scientists who decoded Enigma. The first Enigma code was craked by Polish mathematic team (in 1934) lead by Marian Rejewski (the other team mambers were Jerzy Rózycki and Henryk Zygalski). They were appointed by Polish Cypher Bureau with the task of decoding Enigma. During their work thay came with some interesting thories (e.g. transposition theory) that were applied to decipher the machine. They also as the first constructed a "Bomba", electro-mechanical device that helped them to decode German messages. Just before the II WW Germans changed the Enigma system of coding by adding another 2 rotors which complicated the work of the Polish team and because of lack of money and the outbreak of the II WW they met with British and French in Pyry near Warsaw to pass the information about Enigma and two exact copies of the machine. Then the team had to evacuate to France and in 1941 to the UK.

The important thing then is that Hodges mentiones Poles only on couple of pages in a book of almost 700pages!!! I also found none appreciation for Polish mathematicians and their hard work. Of course I appreciate the achievements of Turing, but we should remember that his ideas were based on Polish work. Therefore I feel the book is not fair at all as it looks only at one side of the coin - notably the British side. So those who decide to buy the book I warn to remember to read about the Poles also...