Alan Turing

One of the finest scientific biographies ever written. --Jim Holt, New Yorker Andrew Hodges' 1983 book Alan Turing: The Enigma, is the indispensable guide to Turing's life and work and one of the finest biographies of a scientific genius ever written. --Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times Turing's rehabilitation from over a quarter-century's embarrassed silence was largely the result of Andrew Hodges's superb biography, Alan Turing: The Enigma (1983; reissued with a new introduction in 2012). Hodges examined available primary sources and interviewed surviving witnesses to elucidate Turing's multiple dimensions. A mathematician, Hodges ably explained Turing's intellectual accomplishments with insight, and situated them within their wider historical contexts. He also empathetically explored the centrality of Turing's sexual identity to his thought and life in a persuasive rather than reductive way ... --Michael Saler, Times Literary Supplement On the face of it, a richly detailed 500-page biography of a mathematical genius and analysis of his ideas, might seem a daunting proposition. But fellow mathematician and author Hodges has acutely clear and often extremely moving insight into the humanity behind the leaping genius that helped to crack the Germans' Enigma codes during World War II and bring about the dawn of the computer age... This melancholy story is transfigured into something else: an exploration of the relationship between machines and the soul and a full-throated celebration of Turing's brilliance, unselfconscious quirkiness and bravery in a hostile age. --Sinclair McKay, Wall Street Journal A first-class contribution to history and an exemplary work of biography. --I. J. Good, Nature An almost perfect match of biographer and subject... [A] great book. --Ray Monk, Guardian A superb biography... Written by a mathematician, it describes in plain language Turing's work on the foundations of computer science and how he broke the Germans' Enigma code in the Second World War. The subtle depiction of class rivalries, personal relationships, and Turing's tragic end are worthy of a novel. But this was a real person. Hodges describes the man, and the science that fascinated him--which once saved, and still influences, our lives. --Margaret Boden, New Scientist Andrew Hodges's magisterial Alan Turing: The Enigma ... is still the definitive text. --Joshua Cohen, Harper's Andrew Hodges's biography is a meticulously researched and written account detailing every aspect of Turing's life... This account of Turing's life is a definitive scholarly work, rich in primary source documentation and small-grained historical detail. --Mathematics Teacher