Turing
Subtitle: pioneer of the information age
By: B. Jack Copeland
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Oxford
Language: eng
Number of pages: 300
ISBN-13: 9780199639793; 9780198719182
Subjects: Mathematicians; Biography
Description: Turing can be regarded as one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. But who was Turing, and what did he achieve during his tragically short life of 41 years? Best known as the genius who broke Germany's most secret codes during the war of 1939-45, Turing was also the father of the modern computer. Today, all who 'click-to-open' are familiar with the impact of Turing's ideas.

Here, B. Jack Copeland provides an account of Turing's life and work, exploring the key elements of his life-story in tandem with his leading ideas and contributions. The book highlights Turing's contributions to computing and to computer science, including Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life, and the emphasis throughout is on the relevance of his work to modern developments. The story of his contributions to codebreaking during the Second World War is set in the context of his thinking about machines, as is the account of his work in the foundations of mathematics. -- Publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Click, tap, or touch to open; title: The universal Turing machine; title: America, mathematics, Hitler; title: Di-di-di-dah; title: enigma calling; title: Turing's U-boat battle; title: 1942: back to America + Hitler's new code; title: Colossus, Delilah, victory; title: ACE, a month's work in a minute; title: Manchester's 'Electronic Brain'; title: The imitation game-artifical intelligence, artificial life; title: Cold porridge.