Alan Turing

 

Alan Mathison Turing (1912-1954) is credited with being the father of the modern computer, and played a vital role in winning the war against both Hitler and Japan. Although his name has entered the English language as part of the computer lexicon, he was never officially rewarded for his efforts. Alan Turing committed suicide after conviction for homosexual activity. 

I believe Turing's original machine re-surfaced in New Zealand some years ago, and was purchased at auction by the Sydney Powerhouse Museum. Collosus was the first electronic computer, developed at Bletchley Park to crack later versions of the Fish codes.

The name for the Enigma machine comes from Elgar's Enigma Variations.

Churchill's History of the Second World War does not mention Ultra, the name given to the intelligence gathered by the people at Bletchely Park and distributed in great secrecy to the allied commanders. In an earlier work on the Great War he mentioned that the British had broken the German naval code - he did not repeat that mistake.
 

Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges, Douglas Hofstadter (Preface) Paperback - 608 pages 0 edition Walker & Co; ISBN: 0802775802

Alan Turing : The Architect of the Computer Age (Impact Biography)
by Ted Gottfried
Reading level: Young Adult
School & Library Binding - 144 pages
Franklin Watts, Incorporated; ISBN: 053111287X
Special Order

Codebreakers : The Inside Story of Bletchley Park
by F. H. Hinsley (Editor), Alan Stripp (Editor)
Paperback - 321 pages Rei edition
Oxford Univ Pr (Trade); ISBN: 019285304X

Enigma: The Battle for the Code
by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
Hardcover: 432 pages
John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 0471407380; 1 edition (January 5, )

Station X : Decoding Nazi Secrets
by Michael Smith, Michael Smith
Hardcover - 240 pages
TV Books Inc; ISBN: 1575000946

Turing and the Computer (The Big Idea)
by Paul Strathern
Paperback - 105 pages 1 Anchor edition (April 20, )
Anchor Books; ISBN: 038549243X

Turing: The Great Philosophers (The Great Philosophers Series)
by Andrew Hodges
Paperback - 64 pages 1 edition Vol 22
Routledge; ISBN: 0415923786
Out of Print - Try Used Books

Machines and Thought : The Legacy of Alan Turing
by Peter Millican (Editor), Andy Clark (Editor)
Paperback (April )
Oxford Univ Press; ISBN: 0198238762

Capturing Enigma : How HMS Petard Seized the German Naval Codes
by Stephen Harper
A very thin book.
Hardcover - 128 pages (April )
Sutton Publishing; ISBN: 0750923164

The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing
by Martin Davis
Hardcover - 256 pages
W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393047857

Bodyguard of Lies
Anthony Cave Brown

(Paperback)

The Hut Six Story
by Gordon Welchman
Paperback - 263 pages (October 19, )
Classical Crypto Books; ISBN: 0947712348
Special Order

Breaking the Code () VHS
Stars Derek Jacobi
Focuses on Turing's ordeal by trial and the reptiles of the press, rather than on his achievements.

Connectionism, Concepts, and Folk Psychology : The Legacy of Alan Turing
(Mind Association Occasional Series)
by A. Clark (Editor), P. J. R. Millican (Editor)
Hardcover Vol 2 (December )
Clarendon Pr; ISBN: 0198235941
Out of Print - Try Used Books
 
 
 

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