Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Pandgt;Our hero is Turing, an interactive tutoring program and namesake (or virtual emanation?) of Alan Turing, World War II code breaker and father of computer science. In this unusual novel, Turing's idiosyncratic version of intellectual history from a computational point of view unfolds in tandem with the story of a love affair involving Ethel, a successful computer executive, Alexandros, a melancholy archaeologist, and Ian, a charismatic hacker. After Ethel (who shares her first name with Alan Turing's mother) abandons Alexandros following a sundrenched idyll on Corfu, Turing appears on Alexandros's computer screen to unfurl a tutorial on the history of ideas. He begins with the philosopher-mathematicians of ancient Greece -- "discourse, dialogue, argument, proof... can only thrive in an egalitarian society" -- and the Arab scholar in ninth-century Baghdad who invented algorithms; he moves on to many other topics, including cryptography and artificial intelligence, even economics and developmental biology. (These lessons are later critiqued amusingly and developed further in postings by a fictional newsgroup in the book's afterword.) As Turing's lectures progress, the lives of Alexandros, Ethel, and Ian converge in dramatic fashion, and the story takes us from Corfu to Hong Kong, from Athens to San Francisco -- and of course to the Internet, the disruptive technological and social force that emerges as the main locale and protagonist of the novel.Alternately pedagogical and romantic, Turing (A Novel about Computation) should appeal both to students and professionals who want a clear and entertaining account of the development of computation and to the general reader who enjoys novels of ideas.andlt;/Pandgt;
Review
"*Turing* sets new standards for the popular exposition of computer science. It is also a very funny book."--Donald E. Knuth, Professor Emeritus of the Art of Computer Programming, Stanford University The MIT Press
Review
"This is a delightful book in which science and fiction meet literature and politics. It makes you feel and understand what creativity means and how it relates to the culture of society. And it is great fun!"
—Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Professor of Communication Technology &Society, University of Southern California, author of The Internet Galaxy
Review
andquot;This is a delightful book in which science and fiction meet literature and politics. It makes you feel and understand what creativity means and how it relates to the culture of society. And it is great fun!andquot;
--Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Professor of Communication Technology and Society, University of Southern California, author of The Internet Galaxy
Review
andquot;This is a delightful book in which science and fiction meet literature and politics. It makes you feel and understand what creativity means and how it relates to the culture of society. And it is great fun!andquot;
--Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Professor of Communication Technology and Society, University of Southern California, author of The Internet Galaxy
Review
Combining storytelling and brilliant exposition in the Enlightenment tradition, Christos Papadimitriou's Turing is at once a moving postmodern love story and one of the best introductions to theoretical computer science available, an enchanting offer to the intelligent reader. The MIT Press
Review
andquot;Combining storytelling and brilliant exposition in the Enlightenment tradition, Christos Papadimitriou's Turing is at once a moving postmodern love story and one of the best introductions to theoretical computer science available, an enchanting offer to the intelligent reader.andquot;
--Apostolos Doxiadis, author of Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture
Review
"... inventively interwoven with a romance and intellectual mystery."
— Sally Abbott, San Francisco Chronicle"What's most delightful about Turing is the charmed glow that Papadimitriou's prose sheds all around."
— George Scialabba, Boston Sunday Globe"This is a delightful book in which science and fiction meet literature and politics. It makes you feel and understand what creativity means and how it relates to the culture of society. And it is great fun!"
—Manuel Castells, Wallis Annenberg Professor of Communication Technology &Society, University of Southern California, author of The Internet Galaxy"Turing sets new standards for the popular exposition of computer science. It is also a very funny book."
—Donald E. Knuth, Professor Emeritus of the Art of Computer Programming, Stanford University"Combining storytelling and brilliant exposition in the Enlightenment tradition, Christos Papadimitriou's Turing is at once a moving postmodern love story and one of the best introductions to theoretical computer science available, an enchanting offer to the intelligent reader."
—Apostolos Doxiadis, author of Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture
Review
"... inventively interwoven with a romance and intellectual mystery." Sally Abbott San Francisco Chronicle The MIT Press
Review
"What's most delightful about Turing is the charmed glow that Papadimitriou's prose sheds all around." George Scialabba Boston Sunday Globe The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"Combining storytelling and brilliant exposition in the Enlightenment tradition, Christos Papadimitriou's Turing is at once a moving postmodern love story and one of the best introductions to theoretical computer science available, an enchanting offer to the intelligent reader." Apostolos Doxiadis, author of Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjectureandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;" andlt;Iandgt;Turingandlt;/Iandgt; sets new standards for the popular exposition of computer science. It is also a very funny book." andlt;Bandgt;Donald E. Knuth andlt;/Bandgt;, Professor Emeritus of the Art of Computer Programming, Stanford Universityandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"... inventively interwoven with a romance and intellectual mystery." andlt;Bandgt;Sally Abbott andlt;/Bandgt; andlt;Iandgt;San Francisco Chronicleandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"What's most delightful about andlt;Iandgt;Turingandlt;/Iandgt; is the charmed glow that Papadimitriou's prose sheds all around." andlt;Bandgt;George Scialabba andlt;/Bandgt; andlt;Iandgt;Boston Sunday Globeandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
Turing sets new standards for the popular exposition of computer science. It is also a very funny book. < b=""> Apostolos Doxiadis <> , author of < i=""> Uncle Petros <> and < i=""> Goldbach's Conjecture <>
Review
...inventively interwoven with a romance and intellectual mystery. < b=""> Donald E. Knuth <> , Professor Emeritus of the Art of Computer Programming, Stanford University
Synopsis
Our hero is Turing, an interactive tutoring program and namesake (or virtual emanation?) of Alan Turing, World War II code breaker and father of computer science. In this unusual novel, Turing's idiosyncratic version of intellectual history from a computational point of view unfolds in tandem with the story of a love affair involving Ethel, a successful computer executive, Alexandros, a melancholy archaeologist, and Ian, a charismatic hacker. After Ethel (who shares her first name with Alan Turing's mother) abandons Alexandros following a sundrenched idyll on Corfu, Turing appears on Alexandros's computer screen to unfurl a tutorial on the history of ideas. He begins with the philosopher-mathematicians of ancient Greece -- "discourse, dialogue, argument, proof...can only thrive in an egalitarian society" -- and the Arab scholar in ninth-century Baghdad who invented algorithms; he moves on to many other topics, including cryptography and artificial intelligence, even economics and developmental biology. (These lessons are later critiqued amusingly and developed further in postings by a fictional newsgroup in the book's afterword.) As Turing's lectures progress, the lives of Alexandros, Ethel, and Ian converge in dramatic fashion, and the story takes us from Corfu to Hong Kong, from Athens to San Francisco -- and of course to the Internet, the disruptive technological and social force that emerges as the main locale and protagonist of the novel.
Alternately pedagogical and romantic, Turing (A Novel about Computation) should appeal both to students and professionals who want a clear and entertaining account of the development of computation and to the general reader who enjoys novels of ideas.
Synopsis
The world of computation according to Turing, an interactive tutoring program, as told to star-crossed lovers: a novel.
Our hero is Turing, an interactive tutoring program and namesake (or virtual emanation?) of Alan Turing, World War II code breaker and father of computer science. In this unusual novel, Turing's idiosyncratic version of intellectual history from a computational point of view unfolds in tandem with the story of a love affair involving Ethel, a successful computer executive, Alexandros, a melancholy archaeologist, and Ian, a charismatic hacker. After Ethel (who shares her first name with Alan Turing's mother) abandons Alexandros following a sundrenched idyll on Corfu, Turing appears on Alexandros's computer screen to unfurl a tutorial on the history of ideas. He begins with the philosopher-mathematicians of ancient Greece -- "discourse, dialogue, argument, proof... can only thrive in an egalitarian society" -- and the Arab scholar in ninth-century Baghdad who invented algorithms; he moves on to many other topics, including cryptography and artificial intelligence, even economics and developmental biology. (These lessons are later critiqued amusingly and developed further in postings by a fictional newsgroup in the book's afterword.) As Turing's lectures progress, the lives of Alexandros, Ethel, and Ian converge in dramatic fashion, and the story takes us from Corfu to Hong Kong, from Athens to San Francisco -- and of course to the Internet, the disruptive technological and social force that emerges as the main locale and protagonist of the novel.
Alternately pedagogical and romantic, Turing (A Novel about Computation) should appeal both to students and professionals who want a clear and entertaining account of the development of computation and to the general reader who enjoys novels of ideas.
Synopsis
The world of computation according to Turing, an interactive tutoring program, as told to star-crossed lovers; a novel.
About the Author
Peter J. Newell is Professor of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia. He has published widely on the political economy of the environment, including the books Climate for Change (2000), The Effectiveness of EU Environmental Policy (2000), co-authored with Wyn Grant and Duncan Matthews, Development and the Challenge of Globalisation (2002), co-edited with Shirin M. Rai and Andrew Scott. He currently works on issues of corporate regulation and accountability and the politics of GMO regulation.