Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28137 in Books
• Published on: 1992-03-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Review
'Ten essential books on technology' --New Statesman

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

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.

A very detailed and enjoyable read ...
This book on Alan Turing is a very detailed biography. I especially liked the fact that the author seems to understand how to explain some technical stuff in a very easy to understand way. It is by no means an introduction to the theory which Turing invented but still gives the reader a good idea on why and how he did it. The work of Mr. Turing on cryptography and the cryptanalysis of the enigma code after his university years are an exciting read on the second world war which not many of us have heard about yet!

Excellent biography.
Hodges' biography manages to paint not only the story of Turing the scientist and his contribution to computing and cryptography, but also Turing the man - shy, witty, persecuted for his homosexuality. The scenes - Cambridge, Bletchley Park, Manchester - are all painted in detail, with the part Turing played in the development of mathematics, cryptography and computing clearly explored against personal and historical contexts.

A degree of mathematical literacy helps one to obtain more from this superb biography, but it should all be accessible to the non-specialist. Hodges tells a compelling story in a readable style.