The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine [Paperback]

Charles Petzold (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470229055 | ISBN-13: 978-0470229057 | Publication Date: June 16, 2008 | Edition: 1

Programming Legend Charles Petzold unlocks the secrets of the extraordinary and prescient 1936 paper by Alan M. Turing

Mathematician Alan Turing invented an imaginary computer known as the Turing Machine; in an age before computers, he explored the concept of what it meant to be computable, creating the field of computability theory in the process, a foundation of present-day computer programming.

The book expands Turing’s original 36-page paper with additional background chapters and extensive annotations; the author elaborates on and clarifies many of Turing’s statements, making the original difficult-to-read document accessible to present day programmers, computer science majors, math geeks, and others.

Interwoven into the narrative are the highlights of Turing’s own life: his years at Cambridge and Princeton, his secret work in cryptanalysis during World War II, his involvement in seminal computer projects, his speculations about artificial intelligence, his arrest and prosecution for the crime of "gross indecency," and his early death by apparent suicide at the age of 41.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Before digital computers ever existed, Alan Turing envisioned their power and versatility...but also proved what computers could never do.

In an extraordinary and ultimately tragic life that unfolded like a novel, Turing helped break the German Enigma code to turn the tide of World War II, later speculated on artificial intelligence, fell victim to the homophobic witchhunts of the early 1950s, and committed suicide at the age of 41. Yet Turing is most famous for an eerily prescient 1936 paper in which he invented an imaginary computing machine, explored its capabilities and intrinsic limitations, and established the foundations of modern-day programming and computability.

This absorbing book expands Turing's now legendary 36-page paper with extensive annotations, fascinating historical context, and page-turning glimpses into his private life. From his use of binary numbers to his exploration of concepts that today's programmers will recognize as RISC processing, subroutines, algorithms, and others, Turing foresaw the future and helped to mold it. In our post-Turing world, everything is a Turing Machine — from the most sophisticated computers we can build, to the hardly algorithmic processes of the human mind, to the information-laden universe in which we live.

About the Author

English mathematician Alan Turing (1912–1954) is the author of the 1936 paper "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem" that introduced the imaginary computer called the Turing Machine for understanding the nature and limitations of computing. His famous 1950 article "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" introduced the Turing Test for gauging artificial intelligence.

American writer Charles Petzold (1953–) is the author of the acclaimed 1999 book Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, a unique exploration into the digital technologies of computers. He is also the author of hundreds of articles about computer programming, as well as several books on writing programs that run under Microsoft Windows. His Web site is www.charlespetzold.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (June 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470229055
• ISBN-13: 978-0470229057
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Theory of Computing

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The kind of book I wish I'd written, July 3, 2008

By 

J. Tauber - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine (Paperback)

Some books entertain, some inform; some confirm what you already knew, some make you change your mind about something. But then there are some books that just make you think "wow! I wish I'd written that".

For me, Charles Petzold's The Annotated Turing falls into that last category (as well, of course, as the informational category). It's a book worth reading not only for the topic itself but the way it's presented.

Petzold provides the necessary background before working through Turing's famous 1936 paper "On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem" with rich annotations at every stage, including biographical details.

If you are interested in the foundation of mathematics, computability, Turing's work, or even just ways of explaining mathematics in a historical context, I highly recommend this book.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars should be on every aspiring mathematician's bookshelf, October 20, 2008

By 

Peter De Croos "Cultofmetatron" (Amherst, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine (Paperback)

this is a fantastic book. It manages to explain simply and clearly the entirety of turing's landmark paper and providing a thorough grounding on the base mathematical knowledge. though I had taken some set theory in college, I am fairly confident that even a devoted highschooler with some experience in geometry proofs could understand and follow this book. Of course, I should also mention that this book is written extremely well such that at no point did I feel bored. when was the last time you found a math book completely riveting?

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Make sure you're well-grounded in math to get the full effect here..., November 16, 2008

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine (Paperback)

This is one of those books that you'll love if you're into mathematics or hard-core computer science, but you'll become somewhat of a skimmer if you don't have the chops to keep up with theory and proofs.. The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine by Charles Petzold. And in case you're wondering, I fall into the second category. :)

Contents:
Part 1 - Foundations
This Tomb Holds Diophantus
The Irrational and the Transcendental
Centuries of Progress
Part 2 - Computable Numbers
The Education of Alan Turing
Machines at Work
Addition and Multiplication
Also Known as Subroutines
Everything Is a Number
The Universal Machine
Computers and Computability
Of Machines and Men
Part 3 - Das Entscheidungsproblem
Logic and Computability
Computable Functions
The Major Proof
The Lambda Calculus
Conceiving the Continuum
Part 4 - And Beyond
Is Everything a Turning Machine?
The Long Sleep of Diophantus
Selected Bibliography
Index

In order to give the reader a better understanding of Turing's paper on computing machines, Petzold takes each section of the original paper and adds commentary and background. The parts of the actual Turing paper are set off in shaded areas with a different font, preserving the line breaks, formatting, and even the typos when possible. By the time you're done with the book, you have a complete copy of Turing's original work. Petzold does a very good job in laying the foundations for concepts and conclusions in the paper. For instance, he provides a concise explanation of rational, irrational, real, and transcendental numbers in a way that most people can follow. It's important to understand those ideas, as they quickly come into play when the dissection of the paper begins. He also provides historical background on Turing and his counterparts. This is important because you should understand that back in the 1930's, the idea and concepts of automated computing were still in their infancy. If you try and judge his work based on what we know today, you may not get the full implication of how radical this was back in his time.

So is this a book that everyone will enjoy? In a word, no. This book deals with some heavy math theory, and to get the most out of it you'd have to either have a solid background in math or be willing to spend a lot of time trying to understand it. I'll admit that most of the details were far over my head, and as such I missed a significant amount of the impact of this book. Having said that, I can also see how Petzold did a very good job in breaking down a complex subject and making it attainable to a reader that isn't at the same level of Turing. In fact, I'd venture to guess that without a book like this, many would not have the opportunity to dig into Turing's work with any degree of depth or success.