The Turing Guide

Abstract

First edition. Alan Turing has long proved a subject of fascination, but following the centenary of his birth in 2012, the code-breaker, computer pioneer, mathematician (and much more) has become even more celebrated with much media coverage, and several meetings, conferences and books raising public awareness of Turing's life and work. This volume will bring together contributions from some of the leading experts on Alan Turing to create a comprehensive guide to Turing that will serve as a useful resource for researchers in the area as well as the increasingly interested general reader. The book will cover aspects of Turing's life and the wide range of his intellectual activities, including mathematics, code-breaking, computer science, logic, artificial intelligence and mathematical biology, as well as his subsequent influence.-- Part I. Biography. Life and work / Jack Copeland and Jonathan Bowen ; The man with the terrible trousers / Sir John Dermot Turing ; Meeting a genius / Peter Hilton ; Crime and punishment / Jack Copeland -- Part II. The universal machine and beyond. A century of Turing / Stephen Wolfram ; Turing's great invention : the universal computing machine / Jack Copeland ; Hilbert and his famous problem / Jack Copeland ; Turing and origins of digital computers / Brian Randell -- Part III. Codebreaker. At Bletchley Park / Jack Copeland ; The Enigma machine / Joel Greenberg ; Breaking machines with a pencil / Mavis Batey ; Bombes / Jack Copeland (with Jean Valentine and Catherine Caughey) ; Introducing Banburisms / Edward Simpson ; Tunny : Hitler's biggest fish / Jack Copeland ; We were the world's first computer operators / Eleanor Ireland ; The Testery : breaking Hitler's most secret code / Jerry Roberts ; Ultra revelations / Brian Randell ; Delilah : encrypting speech / Jack Copeland ; Turing's monument / Simon Greenish, Jonathan Bowen and Jack Copeland -- Part IV. Computers after the war. Baby / Jack Copeland ; ACE / Martin Campbell-Kelly ; Turing's zeitgeist / Brian Carpenter and Robert Doran ; Computer music / Jack Copeland and Jason Long ; Turing, Lovelace, and Babbage / Doron Swade -- Part V. Artificial Intelligence and the mind. Intelligent machinery / Jack Copeland ; Turing's model of the mind / Mark Sprevak ; The Turing test : from every angle / Diane Proudfoot ; Turing's concept of intelligence / Diane Proudfoot ; Connectionism : computing with neurons / Jack Copeland and Diane Proudfoot ; Child machines / Diane Proudfoot ; Computer chess : the first moments / Jack Copeland and Dani Prinz ; Turing and the paranormal / David Leavitt -- Part VI. Biological growth. Pioneer of artificial life / Margaret Boden ; Turing's theory of morphogenesis / Thomas Woolley, Ruth Baker, and Philip Maini ; Radiolaria : validating the Turing theory / Bernard Richards -- Part VII. Mathematics. Introducing Turing's mathematics / Robin Whitty and Robin Wilson ; Decidability and the Entscheidungsproblem / Robin Whitty ; Banburismus revisited : depths and Bayes / Edward Simpson ; Turing and randomness / Rod Downey ; Turing's mentor, Max Newman / Ivor Grattan-Guinness -- Part VIII. Finale. Is the whole universe a computer? / Jack Copeland, Mark Sprevak, and Oron Shagrir ; Turing's legacy / Jonathan Bowen and Jack Copeland.