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The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine Paperback – 30 May 2008

by Charles Petzold (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 368
Edition: 1st
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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.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0470229055
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0470229057
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Wiley
  5. Publication date
    30 May 2008
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    14.99 x 2.29 x 22.35 cm
  8. Print length
    384 pages
  9. See all details
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From the Publisher

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.

From the Inside Flap

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.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley; 1st edition (30 May 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0470229055
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0470229057
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.99 x 2.29 x 22.35 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 368

About the author

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Charles Petzold

Charles Petzold

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Charles Petzold has been writing about Windows programming for 25 years. A Windows Pioneer Award winner, Petzold is author of the classic Programming Windows, the widely acclaimed Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software, Programming Windows Phone 7, and more than a dozen other books.

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4.6 out of 5 stars
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Top review from Australia

Gursimar Singh
1.0 out of 5 stars Bought the Kindle version but the text is all messed up.
Reviewed in Australia on 20 November 2022
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Not readable due to messy text on Kindle. I had to purchase a physical copy instead.
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Gustavo Mirapalheta
5.0 out of 5 stars Produto em execelente estado
Reviewed in Brazil on 23 June 2023
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Para estudar teoria da computação.
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Louis-Jacob Lebel
5.0 out of 5 stars Very well designed and structured
Reviewed in Canada on 15 October 2022
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The book begins with a very fast paced general history of maths and computing, laying multiple concepts and past discoveries (which eventually made the turing machine possible) in a very natural way and in chronological order. The authors clearly show they understand the reasons for maths to be studied and the mechanics of making new discoveries.

The book contains the original paper content updated as little as possible, separated by notes of varying length from the author. if a mistake or a confusing element of the original Turing paper is present, it is generally also addressed in these annotations. You can always skip these annotations if you understand the paper so far, which makes reading the book a highly customizable experience.
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Canek Peláez Valdés
5.0 out of 5 stars A CompSci must-read
Reviewed in Mexico on 16 January 2019
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An excellent companion book to Turing seminal paper on (future called) Turing machines. Every Computer Science student should read it.
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Gillet
5.0 out of 5 stars Lehrreich und herausfordernd
Reviewed in Germany on 16 July 2020
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Am Anfang recht einfach und unterhaltsam geschrieben, aber es nimmt schnell Fahrt auf und wird mathematisch anspruchsvoll. Zumindest für mich. Dennoch sehr empfehlenswerter Klassiker für die IT-Branche.
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SuperB
5.0 out of 5 stars Promesse tenue. Un vrai plaisir à lire.
Reviewed in France on 1 June 2018
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Ce livre fait exactement ce qu'il annonce : nous expliquer réellement le chef-d'oeuvre d'Alan Turing, page après page, phrase après phrase, etc.

On commence par les rappels indispensables quant au contexte mathématique, avant de plonger au cœur de l'article scientifique "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem" (qui faisait 36 pages) : il est reproduit morceau par morceau, et les explications suivent, ce qui donne au final environ 200 pages d'explications...

Pour toute personne qui a déjà été sensibilisée "de loin" au travail de Turing, ou qui en a lu des vulgarisations, c'est un régal que de pouvoir enfin contempler le génie du Turing dans toute sa splendeur, et même de comprendre la quasi-intégralité de son raisonnement.
Il faut parfois s'accrocher un peu pour suivre, mais on y parvient avec un plaisir renouvelé à chaque page. On comprend enfin le lien entre la fameuse machine de Turing, les problèmes de décision qu'elle peut permette de résoudre intellectuellement, le travail de Church sur le même sujet, etc.

Bref, on touche ici du doigt l'histoire du "digital" (pun intended) et de la logique, grâce à Charles Pezold (auteur par ailleurs de nombreux ouvrages d'informatique plus conventionnels).

Il faudrait tout simplement en faire une collection (en maintenant le même niveau, pas simple) : "Annotated Newton", "Annotated Einstein", "Annotated Galois", etc... :)
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