Solvable Unsolvable Problems Science News by Turing Alan (5 results)

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Entire volume offered. 137 pp; illus. Original printed wrappers. Very Good+. 'His last publication was in Penguin Science News, written like a modern Scientific American article, and entitled Solvable and unsolvable problems. Written vividly but from the perspective of a pure mathematician, its final words concerned the interpretation of unsolvable problems, such as the halting problem for Turing machines' (Andrew Hodges, 'Alan Turing: one of The Great Philosophers'; on Alan Turing Home Page).

SOFTCOVER. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First publication of Turings 'Solvable and Unsolvable Problems' on pages 7 - 23 within in Science News No. 31 (complete issue February 1954, there were no off-prints or pre-prints). 8vo in stiff card covers, 137pp plus index of authors at rear, 16pp b/w plates on glossy paper. This copy has the tiny name stamp (of a US chemist) and the very small US 50c circular price label (over the UK 2/- printed price) on the front cover . [CONDITION: Covers slightly dusty and pages slightly tanned else a well preserved FINE very clean and tight unread copy. A very nice copy ] . . . NOTE: Depending on destination this item may require an extra payment for insurance. If so, orders made by card will be completed only after you have approved any such extra cost. . We always ship in STRONG PROTECTIVE CARD PARCELS.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 112 x 180mm; pp. 137 [1, index of authors for nos 28-31]; Turing's contribution pp. [7]-24. A MASTERPIECE OF SCIENCE WRITING: TURING EXPLAINS HIS BREAKTHROUGH 1936 WORK IN LAY TERMS. Considered to be one of the 'Five Turing Classics' (Alan Turing: His Work and Impact, p. 339). This deceptively simple paper contains profound insights into the nature of calculability. Owing to the ambiguous philosophical status of what is known as the 'Church-Turing Thesis' (briefly, 'given any systematic method, we can find a corresponding Turing machine that is equivalent to it'), Turing's discursive comments in the present paper are, in the words of Turing's editor Jack Copeland, "of outstanding interest". Here Turing manages to cover his own (and Church's) thesis on computability, the relationship between the latter and Gödel's incompleteness theorem, and much else concerning the nature of puzzles and mathematical proofs, all in his typical playful and admirably clear prose. This is Turing's final completed essay before his death in June 1954. Turing's short career was one of the most brilliant in the whole history of science. Very good indeed: pages age-toned but clean and bright; spine slightly faded as always.

Paperback. 137pp 16 plates, card covers, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1954. 1st published edition. Very slight mark on spine, otherwise a very good copy.

A first edition, first printing of 'Science News 31', published by Penguin Books, Hammondsworth in 1954. A very good book without inscriptions. A little wear to the foot of the spine which is faded - a lovely copy This is Turing's final completed essay before his death in June 1954. Turing's short career was one of the most brilliant in the whole history of science.