Alan Turing: The Enigma

I 1938 blev den unge og generte matematiker Alan Turing ansat af den britiske efterretningstjeneste, hvor han sammen med en gruppe af andre højintelligente mennesker fik til opgave at knække koden bag nazisternes krypterede beskeder. Det lykkedes hans maskiner i 1940, men Turings drømme og ambtioner var endnu større end blot at hjælpe den britiske krigsindsats under 2. verdenskrig. Før krigen havde han nemlig udviklet konceptet om en universiel maskine, hvilket resulterede i den første skitse af den digitale compter i 1945. "Alan Turing: The Enigma" er den spændende, sande historie om en meget overset person i verdenshistorien, der i sin livstid blev stigmatiseret og anset som kriminel for sin homoseksualitet. Uden Turings intelligens og idéer havde datalogi, kunstig intelligens og computere højst sandsynligt ikke eksisteret som vi kender dem i dag.

I 1938 blev den unge og generte matematiker Alan Turing ansat af den britiske efterretningstjeneste, hvor han sammen med en gruppe af andre højintelligente mennesker fik til opgave at knække koden bag nazisternes krypterede beskeder. Det lykkedes hans maskiner i 1940, men Turings drømme og ambtioner var endnu større end blot at hjælpe den britiske krigsindsats under 2. verdenskrig. Før krigen havde han nemlig udviklet konceptet om en universiel maskine, hvilket resulterede i den første skitse af den digitale compter i 1945. "Alan Turing: The Enigma" er den spændende, sande historie om en meget overset person i verdenshistorien, der i sin livstid blev stigmatiseret og anset som kriminel for sin homoseksualitet. Uden Turings intelligens og idéer havde datalogi, kunstig intelligens og computere højst sandsynligt ikke eksisteret som vi kender dem i dag.

Includes a new foreword by the author and a preface by Douglas Hofstadter. Alan Turing was the extraordinary Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma ciphers and transformed the Second World War. But his vision went far beyond this crucial achievement. Before the war he had formulated the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer. Turing's far-sighted plans for the digital era forged ahead into a vision for Artificial Intelligence. However, in 1952 his homosexuality rendered him a criminal and he was subjected to humiliating treatment. In 1954, aged 41, Alan Turing committed suicide and one of Britain's greatest scientific minds was lost.

Includes a new foreword by the author and a preface by Douglas Hofstadter. Alan Turing was the extraordinary Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma ciphers and transformed the Second World War. But his vision went far beyond this crucial achievement. Before the war he had formulated the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer. Turing's far-sighted plans for the digital era forged ahead into a vision for Artificial Intelligence. However, in 1952 his homosexuality rendered him a criminal and he was subjected to humiliating treatment. In 1954, aged 41, Alan Turing committed suicide and one of Britain's greatest scientific minds was lost.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The official book behind the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades--all before his suicide at age forty-one. This New York Times-bestselling biography of the founder of computer science, with a new preface by the author that addresses Turing's royal pardon in 2013, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life. Capturing both the inner and outer drama of Turing's life, Andrew Hodges tells how Turing's revolutionary idea of 1936--the concept of a universal machine--laid the foundation for the modern computer and how Turing brought the idea to practical realization in 1945 with his electronic design. The book also tells how this work was directly related to Turing's leading role in breaking the German Enigma ciphers during World War II, a scientific triumph that was critical to Allied victory in the Atlantic. At the same time, this is the tragic account of a man who, despite his wartime service, was eventually arrested, stripped of his security clearance, and forced to undergo a humiliating treatment program--all for trying to live honestly in a society that defined homosexuality as a crime. The inspiration for a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, Alan Turing: The Enigma is a gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The official book behind the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades--all before his suicide at age forty-one. This New York Times-bestselling biography of the founder of computer science, with a new preface by the author that addresses Turing's royal pardon in 2013, is the definitive account of an extraordinary mind and life. Capturing both the inner and outer drama of Turing's life, Andrew Hodges tells how Turing's revolutionary idea of 1936--the concept of a universal machine--laid the foundation for the modern computer and how Turing brought the idea to practical realization in 1945 with his electronic design. The book also tells how this work was directly related to Turing's leading role in breaking the German Enigma ciphers during World War II, a scientific triumph that was critical to Allied victory in the Atlantic. At the same time, this is the tragic account of a man who, despite his wartime service, was eventually arrested, stripped of his security clearance, and forced to undergo a humiliating treatment program--all for trying to live honestly in a society that defined homosexuality as a crime. The inspiration for a major motion picture starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, Alan Turing: The Enigma is a gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution.