''The Turing Guide'', written by

Jack Copeland Brian John Copeland (born 1950) is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, and author of books on the computing pioneer Alan Turing. Education Copeland was educated at the University of Oxford, obta ...

Jonathan Bowen Jonathan P. Bowen FBCS FRSA (born 1956) is a British computer scientist and an Emeritus Professor at London South Bank University, where he headed the Centre for Applied Formal Methods. Prof. Bowen is also the Chairman of Museophile Limited ...

, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson, and others and published in 2017, is a book about the work and life of the British

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, and early

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (al ...

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...

(1912–1954).

Overview

The book includes 42 contributed chapters by a variety of authors, including some contemporaries of Alan Turing. The book was published in January 2017 by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, in

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

, and

e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...

formats.

''The Turing Guide'' is divided into eight main parts, covering various aspects of Alan Turing's life and work: # ''Biography'': Biographical aspects of Alan Turing. # ''The Universal Machine and Beyond'': Turing's universal machine (now known as a

Turing machine A Turing machine is a mathematical model of computation describing an abstract machine that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite the model's simplicity, it is capable of implementing any computer algori ...

), developed while at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, which provides a theoretical framework for reasoning about computation, a starting point for the field of

theoretical computer science Theoretical computer science (TCS) is a subset of general computer science and mathematics that focuses on mathematical aspects of computer science such as the theory of computation, lambda calculus, and type theory. It is difficult to circumsc ...

. # ''Codebreaker'': Turing's work on codebreaking during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

, especially the Bombe for decrypting the German Enigma machine. # ''Computers after the War'': Turing's post-War work on computing, at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. He made contributions to both hardware design, through the

ACE computer The Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) was a British early electronic serial stored-program computer designed by Alan Turing. It was based on the earlier Pilot ACE. It led to the MOSAIC computer, the Bendix G-15, and other computers. Backg ...

(later implemented as the Pilot ACE) at the NPL, and software, especially at Manchester using the Manchester Baby computer, later the Manchester Mark 1 and Ferranti Mark 1. # ''Artificial Intelligence and the Mind'': Turing's pioneering and philosophical contribution to machine intelligence (now known as

Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...

or AI), including the

Turing test The Turing test, originally called the imitation game by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine's ability to artificial intelligence, exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Turing propos ...

. # ''Biological Growth'': Morphogenesis, Turing's last major scientific contribution, on the generation of complex patterns through chemical processes in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

and on the mathematics behind them, foundational in

mathematical biology Mathematical and theoretical biology, or biomathematics, is a branch of biology which employs theoretical analysis, mathematical models and abstractions of the living organisms to investigate the principles that govern the structure, development a ...

. # ''Mathematics'': Some of Turing's mathematical achievements, including one of his most significant influences, Max Newman. # ''Finale'': Turing in a wider subsequent context, including his influence and legacy to science and in the public consciousness. The book includes a foreword by

Andrew Hodges Andrew Philip Hodges (; born 1949) is a British mathematician, author and emeritus senior research fellow at Wadham College, Oxford. Education Hodges was born in London in 1949 and educated at Birkbeck, University of London where he was awarded ...

, preface, notes on the contributors, endnotes, and an index.

Contributors

The following 33 authors contributed to chapters in the book: *

Ruth Baker Ruth Elizabeth Baker is a British applied mathematics, applied mathematician and mathematical and theoretical biology, mathematical biologist at the University of Oxford whose research interests include pattern formation, morphogenesis, and the m ...

Mavis Batey Mavis Lilian Batey, MBE (née Lever; 5 May 1921 – 12 November 2013), was a British code-breaker during World War II. She was one of the leading female codebreakers at Bletchley Park. She later became a historian of gardening who campaign ...

Margaret Boden Margaret Ann Boden (born 26 November 1936) is a Research Professor of Cognitive Science in the Department of Informatics at the University of Sussex, where her work embraces the fields of artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy, and c ...

* Martin Campbell-Kelly * Brian Carpenter *

Catherine Caughey Catherine Mary Caughey (née Harvey, 8 December 1923 – 12 April 2008) used Colossus computers for codebreaking at Bletchley Park during World War II. Early life Catherine Mary Harvey was born in Eldoret, Kenya, on 8 December 1923, and spent h ...

* Robert Doran *

Rod Downey Rodney Graham Downey (born 20 September 1957) is a New Zealand and Australian mathematician and computer scientist,. a professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.Ivor Grattan-Guinness Ivor Owen Grattan-Guinness (23 June 1941 – 12 December 2014) was a historian of mathematics and logic. Life Grattan-Guinness was born in Bakewell, England; his father was a mathematics teacher and educational administrator. He gained his bac ...

* Joel Greenberg *

Simon Greenish Simon Greenish is a British Chartered Civil Engineer and museum director. Greenish studied Engineering at Durham University, graduating with a third in 1971. In 1995, Greenish joined the Royal Air Force Museum to lead a £30 million developmen ...

Peter Hilton Peter John Hilton (7 April 1923Peter Hilton, "On all Sorts of Automorphisms", '' The American Mathematical Monthly'', 92(9), November 1985, p. 6506 November 2010) was a British mathematician, noted for his contributions to homotopy theory and ...

Eleanor Ireland Eleanor D. L. Ireland (née Outlaw, born 7 August 1926) was an early British computer scientist and member of the Women's Royal Naval Service. Early life Eleanor Ireland was born on 7 August 1926 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England.Copeland, ...

* David Leavitt *

Jason Long Jason Long (born 12 July 1983) is a Filipino cricketer who plays for the Philippines cricket team. In March 2019, he was named in the Philippines squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup East Asia-Pacific Qualifier tourn ...

Philip Maini Philip Kumar Maini (born 16 October 1959 in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish mathematician. Since 1998, he has been the Professor of Mathematical Biology at the University of Oxford and is the director of the Wolfson Centre fo ...

* Dani Prinz * Diane Proudfoot * Brian Randell * Bernard Richards *

Jerry Roberts Captain Raymond C. "Jerry" Roberts MBE (18 November 1920 – 25 March 2014) was a British wartime codebreaker and businessman. During the Second World War, Roberts worked at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park f ...

Oron Shagrir Professor Oron Shagrir (born 1961) is an Israeli philosopher and cognitive scientist. Oron Shagrir is Schulman Chair of Philosophy and professor of Philosophy and of Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jerusalem ...

* Edward Simpson * Mark Sprevak *

Doron Swade Doron Swade MBE is a museum curator and author, specialising in the history of computing. He is especially known for his work on the computer pioneer Charles Babbage and his Difference Engine. Swade was originally from South Africa. He has s ...

* Sir John Dermot Turing * Jean Valentine * Robin Whitty * Robin Wilson * Stephen Wolfram *

Thomas Wooley ''The Turing Guide'', written by Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson (mathematician), Robin Wilson, and others and published in 2017, is a book about the work and life of the British mathematician, philosopher, and early c ...

Reviews

The book has been reviewed by a number of journals, magazines, and professional organizations, including: * ''

Engineering & Technology ''Engineering & Technology'' (''E&T'') is a science, engineering and technology magazine published by IET Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), a registered charity in the United Kingdom. Th ...

''. * '' European Mathematical Society''. * '' Formal Aspects of Computing''. * ''

Mathematical Association of America The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure a ...

''. * ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishe ...

''. * ''

Notices of the American Mathematical Society ''Notices of the American Mathematical Society'' is the membership journal of the American Mathematical Society (AMS), published monthly except for the combined June/July issue. The first volume appeared in 1953. Each issue of the magazine since ...

''. * '' Nuncius''. * '' Physics World''. * ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

''. * ''

SIAM News Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) is a professional society dedicated to applied mathematics, computational science, and data science through research, publications, and community. SIAM is the world's largest scientific socie ...

''. The book has also been featured online internationally, including in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turing Guide 2017 non-fiction books Computer science books Cryptography books 21st-century history books Books about the history of mathematics Biographies and autobiographies of mathematicians Biographies about philosophers British biographies Books about scientists Oxford University Press books Cultural depictions of Alan Turing History of computing

Overview

Contents

Contributors

Reviews

See also

References