What is the point in writing another biography of Alan Turing more than 60 years after his death? And what can be really new when you know Andrew Hodges‘ „Enigma“ which is both a thrilling approach to the professional life of the man who helped breaking the German Enigma code in the Second World War and an look inside the man who wasn’t allowed to live and love as a homosexual man in the UK of the 50s?
The point is that the author Dermot Turing, is Alan’s nephew and although he has never met his uncle, he takes the reader with „Prof – Alan Turing decoded“ inside the Turing family, presenting not only pictures you may not have seen before but also letters and notes scribbled by Alan when thinking about his work (which makes me wonder how his third notebook which was sold at an auction earlier this year may look like. ) Although the book is – as always when it comes to very specific scientific topics – not always an easy read. But even if you don’t have the brain of a mathematician or a computer expert, you’ll can’t help but to be in awe of a man who apparently was awkward and brilliant as a codebreaker in Bletchley Park and as the father of the computer age, somehow way ahead of his time and down to earth in a stunningly pragmatic way.
„He was a strange character, a very reserved sort, but he mixed in with everyone quite well.“
A way that wasn’t always an easy one to cope with. Imagine Alan at your door at any time of day without any notice to announce his visit or him walking away when he found a conversation boring. But he easily connected with children whom he met on equal levels and talked seriously about such things as if God could catch a cold when he sat on wet grass.
„Prof“ is a biography about a man „who had something special which the rest of us do not“. It is worth reading.
Dermot Turing: Prof – Alan Turing decoded. A biography. The history press, about 20€/ 16£.
Further reading:
Alan Turing – his work and impact.