Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film

ItisonlyaslightexaggerationtosaythattheBritishmathematicianAlanTuring(1912-1954)savedtheAlliesfromtheNazis,inventedthecomputerandartificialintelligence,andanticipatedgayliberationbydecades--allbeforehissuicideatageforty-one.Thisacclaimedbiographyofthefounderofcomputerscience,withanewprefacebytheauthorthataddressesTuring\\\'sroyalpardonin2013,isthedefinitiveaccountofanextraordinarymindandlife.CapturingboththeinnerandouterdramaofTuring\\\'slife,AndrewHodgestellshowTuring\\\'srevolutionaryideaof1936--theconceptofauniversalmachine--laidthefoundationforthemoderncomputerandhowTuringbroughttheideatopracticalrealizationin1945withhiselectronicdesign.ThebookalsotellshowthisworkwasdirectlyrelatedtoTuring\\\'sleadingroleinbreakingtheGermanEnigmaciphersduringWorldWarII,ascientifictriumphthatwascriticaltoAlliedvictoryintheAtlantic.Atthesametime,thisisthetragicaccountofamanwho,despitehiswartimeservice,waseventuallyarrested,strippedofhissecurityclearance,andforcedtoundergoahumiliatingtreatmentprogram--allfortryingtolivehonestlyinasocietythatdefinedhomosexualityasacrime.TheinspirationforamajormotionpicturestarringBenedictCumberbatchandKeiraKnightley,AlanTuring:TheEnigmaisagrippingstoryofmathematics,computers,cryptography,andhomosexualpersecution.