''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.
Contents
''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
Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic sec ...
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 ...
at
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
The bombe () was an electro-mechanical device used by British cryptologists to help decipher German Enigma-machine-encrypted secret messages during World War II. The US Navy and US Army later produced their own machines to the same functiona ...
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
The Pilot ACE (Automatic Computing Engine) was one of the first computers built in the United Kingdom. Built at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in the early 1950s, it was also one of the earliest general-purpose, stored-program computers ...
) at the NPL, and software, especially at Manchester using the
Manchester Baby
The Manchester Baby, also called the Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM), was the first electronic stored-program computer. It was built at the University of Manchester by Frederic Calland Williams, Frederic C. Williams, Tom Kilburn, and Ge ...
computer, later the
Manchester Mark 1
The Manchester Mark 1 was one of the earliest stored-program computers, developed at the Victoria University of Manchester, England from the Manchester Baby (operational in June 1948). Work began in August 1948, and the first version was operat ...
and
Ferranti Mark 1
The Ferranti Mark 1, also known as the Manchester Electronic Computer in its sales literature, and thus sometimes called the Manchester Ferranti, was produced by British electrical engineering firm Ferranti Ltd. It was the world's first commer ...
.
# ''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
Morphogenesis (from the Greek ''morphê'' shape and ''genesis'' creation, literally "the generation of form") is the biological process that causes a cell, tissue or organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of devel ...
, Turing's last major scientific contribution, on the generation of complex patterns through
chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
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
Maxwell Herman Alexander Newman, FRS, (7 February 1897 – 22 February 1984), generally known as Max Newman, was a British mathematician and codebreaker. His work in World War II led to the construction of Colossus, the world's first operatio ...
.
# ''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 award ...
, 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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Martin Campbell-Kelly
Martin Campbell-Kelly is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick who has specialised in the history of computing.
Campbell-Kelly has served on the editorial board of the ''IEEE Annals of the History of Computing'' journal. He is a com ...
*
Brian Carpenter
*
Catherine Caughey
*
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 ...
*
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
*
David Leavitt
David Leavitt (; born June 23, 1961) is an American novelist, short story writer, and biographer.
Biography
Leavitt was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Harold and Gloria Leavitt. Harold was a professor who taught at Stanford University and G ...
*
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 tour ...
*
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 f ...
*
Dani Prinz
*
Diane Proudfoot
*
Brian Randell
Brian Randell (born 1936) is a British computer scientist, and Emeritus Professor at the School of Computing, Newcastle University, United Kingdom. He specialises in research into software fault tolerance and dependability, and is a noted auth ...
*
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
*
Edward Simpson
*
Mark Sprevak
*
Doron Swade
*
Sir John Dermot Turing
*
Jean Valentine
__NOTOC__
Jean Valentine (April 27, 1934December 29, 2020) was an American poet and the New York State Poet Laureate from 2008 to 2010. Her poetry collection, ''Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003'', was awarded the 2004 N ...
*
Robin Whitty
*
Robin Wilson
*
Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram (; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in computer science, mathematics, and theoretical physics. In 2012, he was named a fellow of the American Ma ...
*
Thomas Wooley
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
The European Mathematical Society (EMS) is a European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe. Its members are different mathematical societies in Europe, academic institutions and individual mathematicians. The current ...
''.
* ''
Formal Aspects of Computing
''Formal Aspects of Computing'' (''FAOC'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media, covering the area of formal methods and associated topics in computer science. The editors-in-chief are Jim Woodcock and ...
''.
* ''
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
''Physics World'' is the membership magazine of the Institute of Physics, one of the largest physical societies in the world. It is an international monthly magazine covering all areas of physics, pure and applied, and is aimed at physicists in ...
''.
* ''
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 ...
.
See also
*
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 award ...
, ''
Alan Turing: The Enigma'' (1983).
*
Charles Petzold
Charles Petzold (born February 2, 1953) is an American programmer and technical author on Microsoft Windows applications. He is also a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and was named one of Microsoft's seven Windows Pioneers.
Biography
He ...
, ''
The Annotated Turing
''The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing’s Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine'' is a book by Charles Petzold, published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Petzold annotates Alan Turing's paper "On Computab ...
'' (2008).
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