The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the invention of computers
Language: English
Published by W&N, 2007
Series: Book 5 of 12 - Great Discoveries
- Softcover
- Used
Seller: Bay Books, Bradwell on Sea, United KingdomBay Books
AbeBooks seller since July 14, 2025
Condition: Used - Good
£ 1.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Good - some signs of wear to edges, corners and base of spine.
Seller Inventory # ABE-1752583206855
- Title
- The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the invention of computers
- Author
- Leavitt, David
- Publisher
- W&N
- Publication year
- 2007
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Soft cover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0753822008
- ISBN 13
- 9780753822005
- Item weight
- 247 grams
- Series
- Book 5 of 12: Great Discoveries
The story of Alan Turing, the persecuted genius who helped break the Enigma code and 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 'thinking machine' did not crystallise until he and his brilliant Bletchley Park colleagues built devices to crack the Nazis' Enigma code, thus ensuring the Allied victory in the Second World War. 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 work was cut short when, as an openly gay man in a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain, he was apprehended by the authorities and sentenced to a 'treatment' that amounted to chemical castration. Ultimately, it lead to his suicide, and it wasn't until 2013, after many years of campaigning, that he received a posthumous royal pardon.
With a novelist's sensitivity, David Leavitt portrays Turing in all his humanity - his eccentricities, his brilliance, his fatal candour - while elegantly explaining his work and its implications.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Bay Books
Bradwell on Sea, United Kingdom
AbeBooks seller since July 14, 2025
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 30 business days | 5 to 30 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 17.33 | £ 19.75 |
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Store description
Selling a variety of books, but mostly linked to mathematics and engineering.
Specialty
Mostly non-fiction mathematics, and physics. Occasionally other genresSeller's business information
Bay Books
United Kingdom
Terms of sale
My name is Ella Hand, and I am mostly selling my late husband's collection of maths, engineering and physics books suitable for graduate and post-graduate level reading or studies.
Bay Trees
High Street
Bradwell on Sea
Essex CM0 7QN
07803729461
email: baytreesbooks@gmail.com
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