The alan turing played by benedict cumberbatch is brusque, humorless, and brilliant. The enigma is a gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution. Hodges tells how turing s revolutionary idea of 1936 the concept of a universal machine laid the foundation for the modern computer. Alan turing documentary film codebreaker britain\s. If i had to describe this book in one word, it would be. Real imitation game codebreaker olive bailey describes. Hodges examined available primary sources and interviewed surviving witnesses to elucidate turing s multiple dimensions.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read alan turing. If you prefer to read reference material, which is how i believe this book should be classified, then knock yourself out. To anyone trying to turn this story into a movie, the choice seems clear. I enjoyed learning more about alan turing s life, and in particular about the struggles he faced and the innovations he introduced to the world. Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst alan turing, the film portrays the nailbiting. Turing s rehabilitation from over a quartercenturys embarrassed silence was largely the result of andrew hodgess superb biography, alan turing. The script was adapted from the novel enigma by robert harris, about. During world war ii, the english mathematical genius alan turing tries to crack the german enigma.
The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the turing machine, which can be considered a model of a generalpurpose computer. Alan turing was born on june 23, 1912 in maida vale, london, england as alan mathison turing. Alan turing biopic the imitation game features some lovely period graphics and props designed by minalima the duo behind props and graphics for the harry potter films. Thanks to indepth biographies like andrew hodges alan turing. There are two movies about alan turing that you can watch right now. This lecture was recorded on december 7, 2014one of the last in a series of over 350 distinguished science lectures presented by the skeptics society since 1992. Turing brought the idea to practical realization in 1945 with his. Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst alan turing, the film portrays the nailbiting race against time by turing and his brilliant team of codebreakers at britains topsecret government code and cypher school at bletchley park, during the darkest days of world war ii. The book that inspired the film the imitation game by dr. The other answerers are absolutely right that you shouldnt go by movies. Enigma is a 2001 espionage thriller film directed by michael apted from a screenplay by tom stoppard. Alan turing, the figure at the center of the already much praised film, the.
Andrew hodges alan turing the enigma part 01 audiobook. Alan turing was an intense personality, not the autistic enigma portrayed in the film. It seems he even interviewed many people who knew him. I could have typed out the phone book, and it would have worked. Alan turing a new york times bestsellerthe official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightleyit is only a slight exaggeration to say that the british mathematician alan turing 19121954 saved the allies from the nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decadesall. List of books and articles about alan turing online. Although this graphic novel does share similar aspects to the movie, such as turing decoding the nazi code during ww2, the imitation game focuses more on how alan turing became the brilliant mind he was, and what happened to him after the end of ww2. The cover picture relates to a nondocumentary americanproduced film which. A biography of the english mathematician alan turing, who was one of the inventors of the digital computer and one of the key figures in the breaking of the enigma code, used by the germans to send secret orders to their uboats in world war ii.
Whats missing from the imitation game the new yorker. During world war ii, the english mathematical genius alan turing tries to crack. Alan turing as a 16yearold at sherborne school, dorset, in 1928. Anyone who has seen the movie the imitation game which was inspired by this biography knows that alan turing s story is a fascinating and a dramatic one, and it deserves to be told. Read more information about how you can see the film. I always heard references to alan turing through other books but never really knew him until i read this book. Published on jan 14, 2015 theres plenty of oscar buzz surrounding the imitation game, a film about wwii code breakers including alan turing. The inspiration for a major motion picture starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley, alan turing. The oscarbuzzed new movie the imitation game is an. The imitation game dramatizes the story of alan turing the new. The imitation game 2014 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. A new york times bestseller the official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira.
The enigma the book that inspired the film the imitation game. We have new and used copies available, in 2 editions. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition kindle edition by hodges, andrew, hofstadter, douglas, hodges, andrew. Alan turing decoded is a 2015 biography of alan turing, a 20thcentury mathematician and computer scientist, authored by his nephew dermot turing. Alan mathison turing, 191254, british mathematician and computer theorist. The book that inspired the film the imitation game by andrew hodges. It stars benedict cumberbatch as british cryptanalyst alan turing, who decrypted german intelligence messages for the british government during the second world war. With benedict cumberbatch, keira knightley, matthew goode, allen leech. Alan turing turned out to be one of our greatest minds in history. While studying at cambridge he began work in predicate logic that led to a proof 1937 that some mathematical problems are not susceptible to solution by automated computation. The imitation game ig is a great movie which has brought a lot of attention to alan turing but if you like it, you should also watch the 20 film codebreaker cb, which can be streamed on netflix. What the imitation game didnt tell you about turings. Many times i wanted to put the book away, but i finished it in spite of myself.
The enigma of intelligence written by andrew hodges. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the turing machine, which can be. Which alan turing movie really captures the father of. Its subject, the british mathematical genius who contributed to the cryptanalysis of the nazi enigma code and to the beginnings of the computer, was not an easy subject.
Joyce grove, the house used as bletchley park in the movie, was the childhood home of james bond author ian fleming. The enigma, is the indispensable guide to turings life and work and one of the finest biographies of a scientific genius ever written. Nazi codebreaker on imitation game hero alan turing youtube. Biography audiobooks andrew hodges alan turing the enigma part 01. The imitation game is a 2014 american historical drama film directed by morten tyldum and written by graham moore, based on the biography alan turing. Its a contentious question, says andrew hodges, author of the acclaimed biography alan turing. Written in a nonacademic style, it begins with turing s family history and early childhood, continuing with his contributions to britains cryptanalysis and encryption efforts in world war ii and culminating with turing s conviction for. Book is an important part of history that many did not know before. The american 2014 film the imitation game is loosely based on the book, with dramatization.
Theyre not made to be historically accurate, but instead entertaining and able to tell a story in a couple hours. Jim holt, new yorker andrew hodges 1983 book alan turing. The enigma by andrew hodges is an enigma in its own right. Alan turing was one of the most original thinkers of the 20th century. A gripping story of mathematics, computers, cryptography, and homosexual persecution.
We spoke to the pair about making notes, books and documents for the movie how designers recreated alan turing s topsecret, codecracking world in the imitation game. The book that inspired the film the imitation game updated edition hodges, andrew, hodges, andrew, hofstadter, douglas on. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Taken on by british intelligence in 1938, as a shy young cambridge don, he combined brilliant logic with a flair for engineering. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the turing machine, which played a significant role in the creation of the modern computer. Alan turing, especially his death, is still a mystery to this day and unless someone can create a machine that the professionalism of hourly history to research into the subject and present a succinct and well presented book is present throughout. Alan turing author of computing machinery and intelligence. Codebreaker is being presented to audiences around the world. In the process of turning alan turing s life into a film, the demands of truth are hardly up for a fair fight against the pressures of hollywood. That we can are you a movie fan looking forward to seeing the imitation game starring benedict cumberbatch. The author has obviously spent a lot of time researching many facets of alan turing s life and work.
Park during world war ii was the focus of the 2014 film, the imitation. Moore finally got the chance to pen a turing script when he was hired by the producers, who owned the rights to andrew hodgess acclaimed 1983 biography, alan turing. Scott, new york times one of the finest scientific biographies ever written. The author has obviously spent a lot of time researching many facets of alan turings life and work. Alan turing, the man who winston churchill described as the single biggest contributor to the allied victory over the nazis, was a genius of our lifetime and father of the modern day computer. More than three million people on six continents have seen the film on television, dvd, at film festivals, in movie theaters, at university screenings, and at other special screening events. I found the movie to be entertaining yet confusing. One of the last surviving wwii nazi code breakers tells her story of the greatest intelligence coup of the war and hollywoods portrayal of cryptanalyst alan turing. The enigma, and film depictions of turings life, like the imitation game, based on hodges book, alan turing is quickly becoming a household name, as people begin to recognize that his contributions to various fields were so influential they actually changed the course of human history. Alan mathison turing obe frs was an english mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. The official book behind the academy awardwinning film the imitation game, starring benedict cumberbatch and keira knightley. Alan turing was the mathematician whose ciphercracking transformed the second world war. Alan mathison turing 23 june 1912 7 june 1954, was an english mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist. Although, in the movie, alan tells denniston that he doesnt know german, turing did in fact study german and travel to germany before and after the war.
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