Alan M. Turing by Sara Turing, Centenary Edition

Alan M. Turing

By Sara Turing

With a new afterword by John Turing

And a foreword by Martin Davis

Hardback 9781107020580

Published 29 March 2012

210 pages, £17.99

To commemorate the centenary of Turing's birth his mother's fascinating biography, unavailable for years, is here republished with a new foreword and a never-before published memoir by Alan Turing's older brother.

'An even-tempered, lovable character with an impish sense of humour.' 'In a short life he accomplished much, and to the roll of great names in the history of his particular studies added his own.' So is described one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century, yet Alan Turing's name was not widely recognised until his contribution to the breaking of the German Enigma code became public in the 1970s. The story of Turing's life fascinates and in the years since his suicide, Turing's reputation has only grown, as his contributions to logic, mathematics, computing, artificial intelligence and computational biology have become better appreciated.

To commemorate the centenary of Turing's birth, this republication of his mother's biography is enriched by a new foreword by Martin Davis and a never-before published memoir by Alan's older brother, which sheds new light on Alan's relationship with his family and on the man himself - from offering 'theories' for why Alan was gay (a fact his mother's biography fails to mention) to commenting on the constantly disgusting state of his fingernails.

Notes to Editors

About the Authors:

Sara Turing (deceased) - Alan Turing's mother

John F. Turing (deceased) - Alan Turing's older brother

Martin Davis (new foreword), Professor Emeritus, Department of Computer Science and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, known for his work on Post-Turing machines.

For more information, or a review copy, please contact Carly Bareham at Cambridge University Press on 01223 326274, cbareham@cambridge.org

Contents:

Preface to the First Edition

Foreword to the First Edition - Lyn Irvine

Foreword to the Centenary Edition - Martin Davis

Part I. Mainly Biographical

1. Family background

2. Childhood and early boyhood

3. At Sherborne school

4. At Cambridge

5. At the Graduate College, Princeton

6. Some characteristics

7. War work in the foreign office

8. At the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington

9. Work with the Manchester Automatic Digital Machine

10. Morphogenesis

11. Relaxation

12. Last days and some tributes

Part II. Containing Computing Machinery and Morphogenesis

13. Computing machinery

14. Chemical theory of morphogenesis considered

Afterword: My Brother Alan - John Turing

Bibliography

Index

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