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The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer
The story of the persecuted genius who helped create the modern computer.
To solve one of the great mathematical problems of his day, Alan Turing proposed an imaginary programmable calculating machine. But the idea of actually producing a "Turing machine" did not crystallize until he and his brilliant Bletchley Park colleagues built devices to crack the Nazis' Enigma code, thus ensuring the Allies' victory in World War II. In so doing, Turing became a champion of artificial intelligence, formulating the famous (and still unbeaten) Turing Test that challenges our ideas of human consciousness. But Turing's postwar computer-building was cut short when, as an openly gay man in a time when homosexuality was officially illegal in England, he was apprehended by the authorities and sentenced to a "treatment" that amounted to chemical castration, leading to his suicide.
With a novelist's sensitivity, David Leavitt portrays Turing in all his humanity—his eccentricities, his brilliance, his fatal candor—while elegantly explaining his work and its implications.
To solve one of the great mathematical problems of his day, Alan Turing proposed an imaginary programmable calculating machine. But the idea of actually producing a "Turing machine" did not crystallize until he and his brilliant Bletchley Park colleagues built devices to crack the Nazis' Enigma code, thus ensuring the Allies' victory in World War II. In so doing, Turing became a champion of artificial intelligence, formulating the famous (and still unbeaten) Turing Test that challenges our ideas of human consciousness. But Turing's postwar computer-building was cut short when, as an openly gay man in a time when homosexuality was officially illegal in England, he was apprehended by the authorities and sentenced to a "treatment" that amounted to chemical castration, leading to his suicide.
With a novelist's sensitivity, David Leavitt portrays Turing in all his humanity—his eccentricities, his brilliance, his fatal candor—while elegantly explaining his work and its implications.
319 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
110 people are currently reading
2778 people want to read
About the author
David Leavitt
67 books433 followersLeavitt is a graduate of Yale University and a professor at the University of Florida, where he is the co-director of the creative writing program. He is also the editor of Subtropics magazine, The University of Florida's literary review.
Leavitt, who is openly gay, has frequently explored gay issues in his work. He divides his time between Florida and Tuscany, Italy.
Leavitt, who is openly gay, has frequently explored gay issues in his work. He divides his time between Florida and Tuscany, Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
December 13, 2011
Alan is five years old and taking a bite out of an apple for the first time. Human life is rich with such firsts, as we well know and make known with our various rituals and markings, preservations and engravings. First tooth. First step. First word. First day of school. First kiss. But many firsts go uncelebrated, unmarked, fail to be photographed or scrapbooked, and countless sums pass by human sensors unknown, even to those who personally bear them. No one—neither parents nor Alan or otherwise—could’ve realized the somber significance of this as he happily tore the meat of the commonly blossomed fruit away from its seed-laden axis, his jaw working the tart mouthful into a swallowable sweetness and repeated in between the beaming smiles and clear dancing eyes of satisfaction.
The verdant freshness of childhood innocence harmoniously converges with the surrounding organic hustle and bustle of firsts smattering the flora and fauna. The bite’s unknowable meaning radiates silently amid the pastoral scene of the Turing family picnic. The not all too frequently unclouded light of the Scottish sun warmly contributes to the gorgeous weather and blankets the feelings of time-halting serenity and familial love that mingle and gently swirl about this moment, in this clime, in this fraction of a fraction of the world.
Palpable glimmers of Alan’s remarkable intelligence perched upon the early signposts. His mind grasped the landscape of the idyllic family picnic as not merely a series of pleasant impressions bleeding into one another and lapping at his mind-as-center-of-it-all, but as composed of distinct pathways and trajectories, not exactly upon an actual visualized grid—as might some cartoonish version of a mathematics genius as a child—but as things that adhere to deeper principles of space and movement.
Urged by an offhand remark about how nice it would be to have some honey with their biscuits, he traced the flight patterns of the nearby bees and intuitively calculated them into a hunch that, if followed, could bring their sweet secretions into the already plentiful spread that his family’d been enjoying. Within minutes he’d scampered to the central hub of the hive, exhilarated not as much by the possibility of snatching up a syrupy comb or two, but by the series of gratifying clicks within the mind of being able to anticipate and accurately predict the workings of the world—a complex feeling of exerting power and mastery, tempered by the simultaneously humbling sense that his own workings as a person could likewise be anticipated, predicted and uncovered, and as such fall into place with their own satisfying clicks. He both looked out upon the world and felt himself to be its kin, all of course in ways that a child, and most people beyond childhood, could not articulate.
Alan had a conductor car toy that he rolled around so regularly that, within a year since the Christmas he’d received it, the model vessel and even the miniature conductor himself had worn away significantly—human hands and entropy. When a wheel had fallen off, his impulse was to dig a shallow grave for the toy in the backyard. His parents discovered this and thought that he’d tried to hide the evidence of misusing their gift, but in fact his unusual manner of thinking had given him the idea that a proper burial would allow for some sort of magical rejuvenation of the object, causing it to rise from the soil, Phoenixlike, reborn anew. In general, children are prone to magical thinking, yes, but his particular form of it was unique—a vision of causality quite fenced off from others—a self-contained logic churning within the young boy’s mind that was perhaps a sign of revolutionary leaps to come.
The verdant freshness of childhood innocence harmoniously converges with the surrounding organic hustle and bustle of firsts smattering the flora and fauna. The bite’s unknowable meaning radiates silently amid the pastoral scene of the Turing family picnic. The not all too frequently unclouded light of the Scottish sun warmly contributes to the gorgeous weather and blankets the feelings of time-halting serenity and familial love that mingle and gently swirl about this moment, in this clime, in this fraction of a fraction of the world.
Palpable glimmers of Alan’s remarkable intelligence perched upon the early signposts. His mind grasped the landscape of the idyllic family picnic as not merely a series of pleasant impressions bleeding into one another and lapping at his mind-as-center-of-it-all, but as composed of distinct pathways and trajectories, not exactly upon an actual visualized grid—as might some cartoonish version of a mathematics genius as a child—but as things that adhere to deeper principles of space and movement.
Urged by an offhand remark about how nice it would be to have some honey with their biscuits, he traced the flight patterns of the nearby bees and intuitively calculated them into a hunch that, if followed, could bring their sweet secretions into the already plentiful spread that his family’d been enjoying. Within minutes he’d scampered to the central hub of the hive, exhilarated not as much by the possibility of snatching up a syrupy comb or two, but by the series of gratifying clicks within the mind of being able to anticipate and accurately predict the workings of the world—a complex feeling of exerting power and mastery, tempered by the simultaneously humbling sense that his own workings as a person could likewise be anticipated, predicted and uncovered, and as such fall into place with their own satisfying clicks. He both looked out upon the world and felt himself to be its kin, all of course in ways that a child, and most people beyond childhood, could not articulate.
Alan had a conductor car toy that he rolled around so regularly that, within a year since the Christmas he’d received it, the model vessel and even the miniature conductor himself had worn away significantly—human hands and entropy. When a wheel had fallen off, his impulse was to dig a shallow grave for the toy in the backyard. His parents discovered this and thought that he’d tried to hide the evidence of misusing their gift, but in fact his unusual manner of thinking had given him the idea that a proper burial would allow for some sort of magical rejuvenation of the object, causing it to rise from the soil, Phoenixlike, reborn anew. In general, children are prone to magical thinking, yes, but his particular form of it was unique—a vision of causality quite fenced off from others—a self-contained logic churning within the young boy’s mind that was perhaps a sign of revolutionary leaps to come.
October 4, 2012
A fascinating perspective into the life of an eccentric genius. I probably should not have looked at other reviews first, because it's disheartening to see so many of them complaining "too gay." What I found so striking about this book was that Leavitt evidences how Turing's identity as a gay man was an essential part of his life, not just in the act of sexuality but in his thinking. There's the view of the outsider, the partition of "other" that coloured so much of his thinking about machines, there's the idea of "imitating a man" and trying to fool others that Turing proposed as a test of a computer's intelligence... the book is full of these foundational ideas that can't be separated from Turing's thought process, no matter how much a privileged heteronormative culture wants them to whitewash them out. Turing is an especially good candidate to show the importance of identity on thought in that he was never just a pure mathematician. In his lectures, debates, letters, even the short story he was writing before he died, he is constantly making reference to it; these passing remarks could be just ignored, leaving Turing probably looking like someone who just went off on tangents, but Leavitt does an amazing job in teasing them out and putting them into context. And in that context, it's obvious that the question of who he was, of what machines were, of what made computers and human brains different and the same, was a question that was constantly on Turing's mind.
July 3, 2008
Halfway done and totally disappointed in this book. It skips between being an overblown gay biography of Alan Turing (being gay does define one's existence, but does it have to define EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE, too?) and a hopelessly confusing history of how math become computer science. I'm still slogging through, but my hopes are dashed.
February 4, 2026
Interesting if uneven. Focuses a lot on Turing his identity as a gay man in a society hostile to him, but also tries to enlighten the reader in respect of some of the more technical aspects of his discoveries and work, which makes this feel like two books glued together somewhat awkwardly.
That he didn’t demonise himself didn’t mean that others wouldn’t demonise him.
I do applaud the angle David Leavitt takes in this book, and it is interesting how Turing was quite unapologetically gay, with seemingly no shame or doubt about his own homosexuality. His suicide after being on trial for the same gross indecency that Oscar Wilde was half a century before prosecuted, by biting into a cyanide apple, mirrors one of his favourite films: Disney’s Snow White.
The biographical parts of the book I enjoyed and found very interesting.
Turing was conceived in India, where his father worked in the imperial administration.
He combined social awkwardness, a brilliant mind and athleticism, becoming a first class shooter during the second world war and a strong rower and violinist
Known for taking instructions literally, extending his mathematical logic into normal life. He was permanently impacted by a school infatuation dying from tuberculosis
A don at 22, taking wholly new approaches to mathematical ideas, finding independent solutions in novel ways to very advanced problems that only recently were solved.
The whole topic of metamathematics is quite hard to wrap one’s mind around. In general I felt lost in the mathematical chapters, but surely this was also not aided by me listening to an audiobook.
It is interesting how computer originally referred to a person, mostly women, who performed calculations.
Too often reputation trumps talent - interesting how this was observed by a socially awkward Turing in the 1930s already, and does not refer to our current performative obsessed society.
Cambridge acting as a relatively liberal home after the war, struggles with other mathematicians including Neumann due to the revolutionary ideas for a computer, and leading a life of immersion in running and rowing.
Overall this is a solid introduction to a singular man's life, who is fundamental to our modern world but was mistreated in his time. Sometimes there is quite a bit conjecture going on, but I think the take to focus on the man behind the genius, who kept himself busy with hookups with 19 year olds in dodgy areas but also writing mind-blowing concepts, is successful.
Quotes:
If a machine is expected to be infallible it cannot also be intelligent.
The ability to enjoy strawberries and cream was not a prerequisite for intelligence.
Behaviour was identity in the Turing test
That he didn’t demonise himself didn’t mean that others wouldn’t demonise him.
I do applaud the angle David Leavitt takes in this book, and it is interesting how Turing was quite unapologetically gay, with seemingly no shame or doubt about his own homosexuality. His suicide after being on trial for the same gross indecency that Oscar Wilde was half a century before prosecuted, by biting into a cyanide apple, mirrors one of his favourite films: Disney’s Snow White.
The biographical parts of the book I enjoyed and found very interesting.
Turing was conceived in India, where his father worked in the imperial administration.
He combined social awkwardness, a brilliant mind and athleticism, becoming a first class shooter during the second world war and a strong rower and violinist
Known for taking instructions literally, extending his mathematical logic into normal life. He was permanently impacted by a school infatuation dying from tuberculosis
A don at 22, taking wholly new approaches to mathematical ideas, finding independent solutions in novel ways to very advanced problems that only recently were solved.
The whole topic of metamathematics is quite hard to wrap one’s mind around. In general I felt lost in the mathematical chapters, but surely this was also not aided by me listening to an audiobook.
It is interesting how computer originally referred to a person, mostly women, who performed calculations.
Too often reputation trumps talent - interesting how this was observed by a socially awkward Turing in the 1930s already, and does not refer to our current performative obsessed society.
Cambridge acting as a relatively liberal home after the war, struggles with other mathematicians including Neumann due to the revolutionary ideas for a computer, and leading a life of immersion in running and rowing.
Overall this is a solid introduction to a singular man's life, who is fundamental to our modern world but was mistreated in his time. Sometimes there is quite a bit conjecture going on, but I think the take to focus on the man behind the genius, who kept himself busy with hookups with 19 year olds in dodgy areas but also writing mind-blowing concepts, is successful.
Quotes:
If a machine is expected to be infallible it cannot also be intelligent.
The ability to enjoy strawberries and cream was not a prerequisite for intelligence.
Behaviour was identity in the Turing test
August 13, 2015
Interesting and usually very readable biog of Turing which concentrates on his identity as a gay man and how this may have influenced aspects of his work. During his time at Cambridge, homosexuality was tacitly accepted and there was a significant, though of course rather underground, community of gay academics - including E.M. Forster - and students. This would of course contrast with the secrecy and shame he was subjected to later.
Naturally there are some pages of equations and mathematical description. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to switch gears into being able to understand them all in the way I could with similar books when I was younger, but the presentation is quite clear and they shouldn't trouble most bright all-rounders.
Bletchley is covered in quite an exciting manner (still kind of suspenseful even though we know how it turned out), and the account includes the contributions of a good number of other people as well as Turing. I enjoyed reading more about them online as well. The American author could improve his grasp of London geography, however.
Not that much space is given to the story of Turing's arrest and demise, but it was still very moving and left me quite angry and sad.
Years ago, I had a copy of a much longer biography, Alan Turing: The Enigma. I never got close to finishing it. 700+ pages was probably a bit much for me on this topic, and I was lucky enough to chance upon this book when I was away at Christmas. I would recommend it as an alternative to the other biography for people who aren't CS specialists, especially those with any interest in LGBT issues. (It is a shame to see a number of first-page GR reviews hostile to the gay slant of the book.) I gather from reviews here and elsewhere that the maths is all sound, so those with more technical knowledge should find it satisfactory too.
Naturally there are some pages of equations and mathematical description. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to switch gears into being able to understand them all in the way I could with similar books when I was younger, but the presentation is quite clear and they shouldn't trouble most bright all-rounders.
Bletchley is covered in quite an exciting manner (still kind of suspenseful even though we know how it turned out), and the account includes the contributions of a good number of other people as well as Turing. I enjoyed reading more about them online as well. The American author could improve his grasp of London geography, however.
Not that much space is given to the story of Turing's arrest and demise, but it was still very moving and left me quite angry and sad.
Years ago, I had a copy of a much longer biography, Alan Turing: The Enigma. I never got close to finishing it. 700+ pages was probably a bit much for me on this topic, and I was lucky enough to chance upon this book when I was away at Christmas. I would recommend it as an alternative to the other biography for people who aren't CS specialists, especially those with any interest in LGBT issues. (It is a shame to see a number of first-page GR reviews hostile to the gay slant of the book.) I gather from reviews here and elsewhere that the maths is all sound, so those with more technical knowledge should find it satisfactory too.
September 27, 2011
I expected more of a biography. Instead, it's an awkward combination of sketchy biography and layman's explanation of Turing's technical contributions. It's not bad, just not very good.
May 13, 2015
I lost interest and gave up on page 26. So early! Feeble really; but I've just not been able to get back into it, despite trying.
The author's narrative reads too much like a first draft, a rough, barely-ordered laying out of sources without the subsequent necessary review, re-review, and knitting-together into a text that engages its reader as it flows. Was the sub-editor asleep at the time?
I am disappointed. After several deeply engrossing visits to the Bletchley Park site, and The National Museum Of Computing, I'd really looked forward to reading this book; especially as I borrowed it from Hampshire (public) Library Services, whose staff are normally superb at selecting books.
The author's narrative reads too much like a first draft, a rough, barely-ordered laying out of sources without the subsequent necessary review, re-review, and knitting-together into a text that engages its reader as it flows. Was the sub-editor asleep at the time?
I am disappointed. After several deeply engrossing visits to the Bletchley Park site, and The National Museum Of Computing, I'd really looked forward to reading this book; especially as I borrowed it from Hampshire (public) Library Services, whose staff are normally superb at selecting books.
January 10, 2017
Excellent book! Some parts might be challenging if you don't have a working knowledge of imaginary numbers, math proofs and theoretical math. But if you don't understand that part just skim it and get back to the story. Don't let it stop you from enjoying the book. Must read!
March 3, 2023
Turing was an intriguing, tragic genius. Hard to believe that less than 70 years ago society was still persecuting homosexuals so cruelly. Turing might have had a touch of Asbergers as he seems incapable of deception or even discretion.
Truthfully this book would have definitely been better had I read it rather than listening to the audiobook. Listening to a guy reading binary numbers is not only boring but somewhat unenlightening to say the least.
Truthfully this book would have definitely been better had I read it rather than listening to the audiobook. Listening to a guy reading binary numbers is not only boring but somewhat unenlightening to say the least.
May 11, 2008
I found this a fascinating book, even though the mathematical concepts in the middle chapters were a bit of a hard slog. Still, even if I didn't fully follow the explanations, it was entirely helpful to get a sense of the territories in which Turing's mind was working. And the bit about the Enigma machines was utterly absorbing.
I raised an eyebrow when I saw David Leavitt as the author of the book, wondering whether an author mostly known (or at least mostly known to me) as a writer of gay-centred novels would tip the balance of the whole thing, making it a "poor abused gay hero" biography. Possibly there are readers out there who are disappointed he didn't do just that. I thought he maintained the balance between the intellectual and the emotional quite admirably. His analysis of a short story fragment Turing wrote towards the end of his life is, as one would expect, full of insight.
Turing died by biting into a cyanide-poisoned apple, suicide being the generally accepted explanation, though his family steadfastly maintained it was an accident. Leavitt is quite scientific in presenting all the evidence for the two theories.
This book is part of a series, "Great Discoveries", and I suspect it had an upper word limit imposed by the publisher. That may in fact have been to its advantage. Turing was not a man who would be easily understood even with thousands of pages of description and analysis - but I came away from this feeling I had at least gained some sense of the man.
I raised an eyebrow when I saw David Leavitt as the author of the book, wondering whether an author mostly known (or at least mostly known to me) as a writer of gay-centred novels would tip the balance of the whole thing, making it a "poor abused gay hero" biography. Possibly there are readers out there who are disappointed he didn't do just that. I thought he maintained the balance between the intellectual and the emotional quite admirably. His analysis of a short story fragment Turing wrote towards the end of his life is, as one would expect, full of insight.
Turing died by biting into a cyanide-poisoned apple, suicide being the generally accepted explanation, though his family steadfastly maintained it was an accident. Leavitt is quite scientific in presenting all the evidence for the two theories.
This book is part of a series, "Great Discoveries", and I suspect it had an upper word limit imposed by the publisher. That may in fact have been to its advantage. Turing was not a man who would be easily understood even with thousands of pages of description and analysis - but I came away from this feeling I had at least gained some sense of the man.
March 8, 2014
rating: 4/5
This is a biography of Alan Turing, the man who was critical in decoding and building the computer (and the theoretical basis of the computer) used to decode the German Enigma machine and who pioneered AI theory. The tragic end of his life had me in tears at the injustice, a life and a genius lost (and a loss to society). His end was also poetic, .
The book is a bit dry, especially during the difficult math parts, but it is necessary to be able to get into Turing's head and understand the way he thought. I didn't get more than half the math, I tried. Despite the challenge, we end up exploring the mind of an extraordinary man and genius. The author did a great job and breaking down the influences in his early life and the way they effected his personality, psychology, and work.
And of course we end with a tragedy, we end with his arrest for the crime of homosexuality, his subsequent emotional turmoil, depression and early death.
-----------------------
3/8/14: Recently, January 2014, the Queen issued an official pardon for Turning (http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/24/world/e...). Great for its symbolic value but over 60 years too late to actually make a difference in his life.
This is a biography of Alan Turing, the man who was critical in decoding and building the computer (and the theoretical basis of the computer) used to decode the German Enigma machine and who pioneered AI theory. The tragic end of his life had me in tears at the injustice, a life and a genius lost (and a loss to society). His end was also poetic, .
The book is a bit dry, especially during the difficult math parts, but it is necessary to be able to get into Turing's head and understand the way he thought. I didn't get more than half the math, I tried. Despite the challenge, we end up exploring the mind of an extraordinary man and genius. The author did a great job and breaking down the influences in his early life and the way they effected his personality, psychology, and work.
And of course we end with a tragedy, we end with his arrest for the crime of homosexuality, his subsequent emotional turmoil, depression and early death.
-----------------------
3/8/14: Recently, January 2014, the Queen issued an official pardon for Turning (http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/24/world/e...). Great for its symbolic value but over 60 years too late to actually make a difference in his life.
March 10, 2018
كتاب يتحدث عن أحد ألمع العقول التي تركت بالغ الأثر على عالم الحواسيب، بل يُعتبر أحد منظّريه وصاحب الفضل الكبير عليه.
الكتاب يحكي قصّة ألان تورينج منذ طفولته إلى آخر أيامه، يركّز بشكل أساسي على جانب "إعادة اكتشاف ما اكتُشف من قبل" لكن بطريقته الخاصة، وهو ما صوّره الكاتب على أنه سوء حظ، حيث أنه وبسبب انعزاله وقلة علاقاته الاجتماعية في شبابه، كان يركزّ على عمله دون أن يهتم بالعالم الذي حوله إلى درجة أن أحد أبرز أعماله والوثائق البحثية التي نشرها والمُتعلقة بالآلة التي حملت اسمه (آلة تورينج) كادت أن تندثر لأنه لما شارف على إنهائها وقبل نشرها، نُشر بحث آخر للرياضي تشيرش والتي توصّلت إلى نفس النتائج، إلا أنه وبفضل بساطة الطريقة التي عرض بها نتائجه وبحكم أنها طريقة مُغايرة (وبفضل تواصل أستاذه مع الرياضي تشيرش) انتهى بهذا العمل أن يحمل اسميهما معًا فرضية تشيرتش-تورينج.
يهتم الكتاب أيضًا بالدّور الذي لعبه تورينج في التغلب على آلات التشفير إنيجما التي كان يستخدمها الجيش الألماني في الحرب العالمية الثانية، حيث طوّر آليات وآلة سمحت للحلفاء بفك تشفير الرسائل التي كان يتراسل بها الجيش الألماني مما سمح للحلفاء بالانتصار.
الكتاب يعجّ بالتفاصيل التقنية جدًا والتي قد تُنفّر من لم تكن لديه خلفية تقنية أو معرفة سابقة بأعمال تورينج (أو بالبرمجة بشكل عام). يركّز الكتاب أيضًا بشكل كبير على مثلية تورينج الجنسية، حيث أنه لم يصوّرها أو يُعالجها على أنها جانب من جوانب حياة تورينج بل صوّرها بشكل ما على أنها الركيزة التي ارتكزت عليها حياته وحتى أثرت في أفكاره وأعماله. صحيح بأن الأمر أدى إلى إلقاء القبض عليه وإدانته والحكم عليه بـ"العلاج من المثلية" مما أدى به إلى الانتحار لاحقًا، لكن بدا لي بأنه تم تضخيم الأمر نسبيًا لحاجة في نفس الكاتب.
لا أنصح باستهلاك هذا الكتاب كمادة صوتية، نظرًا لصعوبة تتبّع عدة أجزاء منه، خاصة ما تعلق ببعض النظريات الرياضية وأمثلتها إن لم تكن لديك خلفية جيّدة حول الموضوع.
الكتاب يحكي قصّة ألان تورينج منذ طفولته إلى آخر أيامه، يركّز بشكل أساسي على جانب "إعادة اكتشاف ما اكتُشف من قبل" لكن بطريقته الخاصة، وهو ما صوّره الكاتب على أنه سوء حظ، حيث أنه وبسبب انعزاله وقلة علاقاته الاجتماعية في شبابه، كان يركزّ على عمله دون أن يهتم بالعالم الذي حوله إلى درجة أن أحد أبرز أعماله والوثائق البحثية التي نشرها والمُتعلقة بالآلة التي حملت اسمه (آلة تورينج) كادت أن تندثر لأنه لما شارف على إنهائها وقبل نشرها، نُشر بحث آخر للرياضي تشيرش والتي توصّلت إلى نفس النتائج، إلا أنه وبفضل بساطة الطريقة التي عرض بها نتائجه وبحكم أنها طريقة مُغايرة (وبفضل تواصل أستاذه مع الرياضي تشيرش) انتهى بهذا العمل أن يحمل اسميهما معًا فرضية تشيرتش-تورينج.
يهتم الكتاب أيضًا بالدّور الذي لعبه تورينج في التغلب على آلات التشفير إنيجما التي كان يستخدمها الجيش الألماني في الحرب العالمية الثانية، حيث طوّر آليات وآلة سمحت للحلفاء بفك تشفير الرسائل التي كان يتراسل بها الجيش الألماني مما سمح للحلفاء بالانتصار.
الكتاب يعجّ بالتفاصيل التقنية جدًا والتي قد تُنفّر من لم تكن لديه خلفية تقنية أو معرفة سابقة بأعمال تورينج (أو بالبرمجة بشكل عام). يركّز الكتاب أيضًا بشكل كبير على مثلية تورينج الجنسية، حيث أنه لم يصوّرها أو يُعالجها على أنها جانب من جوانب حياة تورينج بل صوّرها بشكل ما على أنها الركيزة التي ارتكزت عليها حياته وحتى أثرت في أفكاره وأعماله. صحيح بأن الأمر أدى إلى إلقاء القبض عليه وإدانته والحكم عليه بـ"العلاج من المثلية" مما أدى به إلى الانتحار لاحقًا، لكن بدا لي بأنه تم تضخيم الأمر نسبيًا لحاجة في نفس الكاتب.
لا أنصح باستهلاك هذا الكتاب كمادة صوتية، نظرًا لصعوبة تتبّع عدة أجزاء منه، خاصة ما تعلق ببعض النظريات الرياضية وأمثلتها إن لم تكن لديك خلفية جيّدة حول الموضوع.
March 4, 2017
Una gran biografia, molto scorrevole. Del resto Leavitt è per lo più un romanziere, ma qui si basa su fonti ben precise e non romanza nulla anche quando potrebbe. Buona parte del libro tiene conto dello stato della "filosofia" e della "matematica" dell'epoca, essenziale per comprendere quanto fosse rivoluzionario l'approccio di Turing alla risoluzione di problemi.
Nonostante questo Leavitt riesce a esplicare bene quanto fosse frustrato il geniale Alan dall'ipocrisia della società inglese, e le difficoltà che incontrò verso la fine della vita. Difficoltà che, se non fosse stato così restio a rendere pubblico il suo contributo alla Guerra, sarebbero state di certo minori.
Attenzione, il cap. 3 è decisamente impegnativo se lo volete capire, perché riprende per filo e per segno l'articolo forse più importante scritto da Alan.
Nonostante questo Leavitt riesce a esplicare bene quanto fosse frustrato il geniale Alan dall'ipocrisia della società inglese, e le difficoltà che incontrò verso la fine della vita. Difficoltà che, se non fosse stato così restio a rendere pubblico il suo contributo alla Guerra, sarebbero state di certo minori.
Attenzione, il cap. 3 è decisamente impegnativo se lo volete capire, perché riprende per filo e per segno l'articolo forse più importante scritto da Alan.
April 16, 2025
Alan Turing byl geniální vědec, logik, matematik, kryptolog... Tato kniha klade důraz na to, že byl gay.
Vysvětlení principů, na kterých byla postavena Enigma, je povrchní. Vysvětlení činnosti Turingova stroje není zpočátku špatné, ale pak se autor zamotává do popisu diskrétních stavů a ke srozumitelnosti nepřispívají také tiskové chyby. Výklad Gödela a jeho teorémů je podivný, souvislost s Turingovým řešením halting problému je popsána podivně. Popis Turingova testu je odfláknutý. No, jestli chcete dávku laciného psychologismu, proč Turing tak toužil po kontaktu se stroji a proč chtěl zkonstruovat mechanické dítě, dočkáte se. Ty tři hvězdičky jsou za některé zajímavé životopisné pasáže v úvodních kapitolách a za ten pokus popsat Turingův stroj bez zjednodušování a v duchu Turingova článku On computable numbers.
Vysvětlení principů, na kterých byla postavena Enigma, je povrchní. Vysvětlení činnosti Turingova stroje není zpočátku špatné, ale pak se autor zamotává do popisu diskrétních stavů a ke srozumitelnosti nepřispívají také tiskové chyby. Výklad Gödela a jeho teorémů je podivný, souvislost s Turingovým řešením halting problému je popsána podivně. Popis Turingova testu je odfláknutý. No, jestli chcete dávku laciného psychologismu, proč Turing tak toužil po kontaktu se stroji a proč chtěl zkonstruovat mechanické dítě, dočkáte se. Ty tři hvězdičky jsou za některé zajímavé životopisné pasáže v úvodních kapitolách a za ten pokus popsat Turingův stroj bez zjednodušování a v duchu Turingova článku On computable numbers.
November 30, 2023
The book manages to simplify some complex topics and ideas about maths and logic but is oddly focussed, and often written in a trite way. It draws interesting parallels between Turing’s eccentric behaviour, his interest in computers and his homosexuality. However the author was sometimes quite sensationalist and made some assumptions/connections about Turing’s inner thoughts which I felt were inaccurate bordering on disrespectful.
Moreover, for me, the first half was sort of boring. The focus on Turing’s early academic research on mathematical problems, and the deep dive into these did sometimes stretch my attention span. The latter half does a better job at balancing a history if Turing’s life with the more detailed exploration of logic/mathematical problems, such that my attention was held without problem.
I would probably give this a 2.5, as that is firmly where I see it sitting. I really can’t dismerit the author’s ability to connect the dots, in an accessible way, from Turing’s early mathematical inquiries to his defence of machine intelligence later in life. I feel though I must score this low, as I was so bored by the first half, and at times annoyed by the author’s over indulgence and speculation about aspects of Turing’s life. David - Leavitt out next time will you, bud?
Moreover, for me, the first half was sort of boring. The focus on Turing’s early academic research on mathematical problems, and the deep dive into these did sometimes stretch my attention span. The latter half does a better job at balancing a history if Turing’s life with the more detailed exploration of logic/mathematical problems, such that my attention was held without problem.
I would probably give this a 2.5, as that is firmly where I see it sitting. I really can’t dismerit the author’s ability to connect the dots, in an accessible way, from Turing’s early mathematical inquiries to his defence of machine intelligence later in life. I feel though I must score this low, as I was so bored by the first half, and at times annoyed by the author’s over indulgence and speculation about aspects of Turing’s life. David - Leavitt out next time will you, bud?
September 29, 2021
The more I learn about Alan Turing the sadder (& madder) I get that he was dead at 41. He is so much more than what we see in Imitation Game or ascribe to him because of the Turing Test. Given all he accomplished in his short life, it's hard not to wonder what else he would have invented (discovered?) had England's anti-gay laws not been so barbaric. I think my favorite new piece of his life I learned is that Turing was a student of Ludwig Wittgenstein's and that Turing gave Wittgenstein hell in class. What a great time to be alive and be a mathematician and a philosopher that must have been. I love that Turing believed that intelligent machines deserved the same rights as humans. He seemed like such an odd, delightful, brilliant human.
January 16, 2022
Biografía de Alan Turing muy bien documentada, que no cae en errores típicos y tópicos, y que explica muy bien muchos de los conceptos que inventó el matemático.
https://liblit.com/david-leavitt-el-h...
https://liblit.com/david-leavitt-el-h...
December 17, 2022
I read this in preparation for the author's upcoming lecture at a local university. I was pretty excited since I really wanted to learn more about Alan Turing, but I am not sure this book helped with that understanding. It delved deeply into the mathematical debates of the time in order to highlight Turing's revolutionary contributions, but I don't have the mathematical degrees (or interest) in those technical achievements. Leavitt addresses Turing sexuality, but the level of speculation was startling for an otherwise highly academic read. I am hoping the lecture provides more insight.
Did not finish
February 28, 2023I was hoping for a clear account of the life of Alan Turing. I've read Andrew Hodges's marvelous book (a long time ago) and what I was hoping Leavitt would do here was leave the heavy math to Hodges and focus on Turing's personal life. But the first part of the book is filled with attempts to explain the math and the theory--so heavy and hard to follow and ponderous, as presented here. The book has been put aside, for now. I may return to it at some point; skip the theoretical stuff and see what Leavitt may have to tell us about the man.
February 26, 2024
The first 3/4 of this book were hard to get through, the author just went too deep into the specifics of Turing’s work that it all went over my head. When it did discuss his life events it was interesting.
January 21, 2026
An intricate and beautiful look into the life and work of a real genius.
December 10, 2024
An interesting read of the terribly sad story of Turning, but a bit all over the place at times.
Read
January 24, 2025Talk about someone who died for our sins. Can’t wait til he’s born again ❤️🤖
November 15, 2010
Questa biografia di Alan Turing ha un unico pregio: convincere il lettore a comprarsi quella scritta da Andrew Hodges, http://www.anobii.com/books/978883391... . Turing era omosessuale, e la sua omosessualità è stata la causa del suo suicidio, quindi è chiaro che essa è un tema fondamentale. Ma questo non dovrebbe significare leggere tutta la vita del matematico inglese in chiave omosessuale, a meno che uno non voglia farsi ridere dietro scrivendo ad esempio che "la strategia attuata da Turing di aprire il suo lavoro riassumendo tutte le rivendicazioni degli oppositori prefigura i manifesti per i diritti dei gay degli anni Cinquanta e Sessanta" (pag.189; ma avrei potuto scegliere tanti altri esempi). Aggiungete che Leavitt, a differenza di Hodges, non è un matematico e quindi non riesce a spiegare chiaramente l'Entscheidungproblem oltre a prendersi qualche topica sulla zeta di Riemann, e rincarate la dose con i danni di traduzione ed editing che riescono a scrivere la lista dei numeri naturali invece che quelli primi e a non accorgersi che se stai parlando di cifratura di una frase in inglese non puoi tradurla lasciando identica la frase cifrata, sennò l'esempio non ha alcun senso; come potete capire il risultato finale è che dalla lettura di questo libro non guadagnerete nulla.
November 12, 2015
Familiar with and generally admiring of David Leavitt's fiction I was impressed by his attempt to tell this story. Lest I sound equivocal [pun?], I'll say I would have enjoyed this book more by reading it on the page/e-ink screen than by listening to the audiobook as I did - though that's no fault of the reader, Paul Michael Garcia. But every number of every binary string was read: one one one one one one one one zero ellipses (yes, even the word "ellipses" was voiced) and I repeatedly "zoned" out and lost the context. I'm not innumerate, but I was busy this week, and I am a visual thinker, and that was too much to absorb. I loved George Dyson's Turing's Cathedral and listened to the audiobook in unceasing fascination; I took a lot of enjoyment from Brian Christian's The Most Human Human; say the words "Bletchley Park" or "Enigma" and you have my immediate attention. So perhaps it was the equations and also something restrained in Leavitt's handling of the material that kept causing me to lose the thread. I do think this was fine examination of Turing's life, mathematics, milieu, and tragic death (it might have been accidental suicide? Apple denies that their logo is inspired by Turing?). Note: need to read Andrew Hodges on Turing.
January 25, 2010
I read this in order to lead a book group discussion. The book provided fodder for a long and interesting discussion. (We went overtime by half an hour or so.)
It's worth noting, though, that the book doesn't have quite the emphasis that I was expecting. Many, many, many more pages are spent on the mathematics than on the man. A lengthy explanation of the operation of a series of hypothetical Turing machines runs to 30 pages. On the other hand, it was a shock to learn that Turing was briefly engaged to be married, and even more of a shock that his fiancee was "unfazed" when he revealed that he was gay—and yet all of that happened in a single sentence.
The Man Who Knew Too Much is part of a series (Great Discoveries). As an admirer of Leavitt's other work—including The Indian Clerk an excellent novel based on the life of another mathematician and contemporary of Turing's, G.H. Hardy—I have to assume he was somewhat constrained by his charter. That is to say, he was compelled to favor Turing's work over his life. Leavitt does a fine job of it, but I'm no math geek, and I would have preferred that the emphasis be reversed.
It's worth noting, though, that the book doesn't have quite the emphasis that I was expecting. Many, many, many more pages are spent on the mathematics than on the man. A lengthy explanation of the operation of a series of hypothetical Turing machines runs to 30 pages. On the other hand, it was a shock to learn that Turing was briefly engaged to be married, and even more of a shock that his fiancee was "unfazed" when he revealed that he was gay—and yet all of that happened in a single sentence.
The Man Who Knew Too Much is part of a series (Great Discoveries). As an admirer of Leavitt's other work—including The Indian Clerk an excellent novel based on the life of another mathematician and contemporary of Turing's, G.H. Hardy—I have to assume he was somewhat constrained by his charter. That is to say, he was compelled to favor Turing's work over his life. Leavitt does a fine job of it, but I'm no math geek, and I would have preferred that the emphasis be reversed.
September 23, 2019
I felt really sad after finishing this book, because of the last chapter. Thinking about how such a genius died of such an incredibly unfair cause makes me sad, or angry, probably both. It feels even worse compared with the ending of Oscar Wilde, who more or less have achieved his best before his death.
If Alan Turing didn't die so young, then how'd the human history look like? This is a hard question to consider.
Whenever we condemn certain types of people because of certain types of behavior, considering how their wrong doings are against the "human standard" as of now - we'd better consider a world where things are considered differently, and think about the consequences of condemning people according to a standard that is likely contemporarily instead of based on human natures. - I'd like to warn myself of such biases (even if explainable due to circumstances).
If Alan Turing didn't die so young, then how'd the human history look like? This is a hard question to consider.
Whenever we condemn certain types of people because of certain types of behavior, considering how their wrong doings are against the "human standard" as of now - we'd better consider a world where things are considered differently, and think about the consequences of condemning people according to a standard that is likely contemporarily instead of based on human natures. - I'd like to warn myself of such biases (even if explainable due to circumstances).
February 15, 2015
This book is uneven. 2.5 stars rounded to 3 because of a few good parts.
The first half of the book seems padded. Leavitt spends way too much time describing other homosexual scholars at Cambridge with whom Turning had no interactions. It seemed bizarre to write about men Turing might have met if only he had been less shy.
A section of Turing's WWII work to break the code of the German's Enigma machines is interesting and written in a way that a lay person feels like she almost understands how the machines work.
Leavitt's descriptions of Turning's work and philosophy writings after WWII are less compelling but at least they are about Alan Turing.
The first half of the book seems padded. Leavitt spends way too much time describing other homosexual scholars at Cambridge with whom Turning had no interactions. It seemed bizarre to write about men Turing might have met if only he had been less shy.
A section of Turing's WWII work to break the code of the German's Enigma machines is interesting and written in a way that a lay person feels like she almost understands how the machines work.
Leavitt's descriptions of Turning's work and philosophy writings after WWII are less compelling but at least they are about Alan Turing.
June 1, 2017
I'm a huge fan of Alan Turing's. A FAN. And god, if he isn't completely tragic.
I liked this biography especially because the author sat down and worked out some of the math, and spent time explaining decoding. But really, the important part was that they didn't gloss over the fact that--shock--Turing was gay.
Even for someone that likes to read nonfiction anyway, I was REALLY into this book. Only reason it took so long to get to it was school (since I bought this in the summer).
Great biography. Really.
I liked this biography especially because the author sat down and worked out some of the math, and spent time explaining decoding. But really, the important part was that they didn't gloss over the fact that--shock--Turing was gay.
Even for someone that likes to read nonfiction anyway, I was REALLY into this book. Only reason it took so long to get to it was school (since I bought this in the summer).
Great biography. Really.
August 21, 2018
As a gay computer scientist and mathematician I have to agree with several reviewers. I feel the author has overemphasized Turing's homosexuality. Lots of conjecture about his feelings that is unsupported by any documentary evidence. Also there is a whole chapter or two devoted to the minutiae of the original Turing "machine" that really offers little insight into his life and is quite dull. The book as a whole is an interesting read, but there are better Turing biographies.
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