Book description
At a moment of great discovery, one Big Idea can change the world...
Today, computers touch every aspect of our lives and dominate the
world of technology. They have revolutionised the modern age of
communication and are arguably one of humankind's greatest
achievements. To imagine a 21st Century existence without a computer
seems impossible. Yet despite our utter reliance on computers, how
much is really known about the way they work or their inventor, Alan Turing?
Turing's work has lasting implications for our day-to-day lives as
well as our first notions of artificial intelligence. Both engaging
and accessible, Turing and the Computer pays homage to the
extraordinary life and work of an intense and emotional man who
struggled with discrimination from his peers and family, helped break
the Enigma codes to win World War II, and invented the world's first
computer...before being largely forgotten by the world.
The Big Idea series is a fascinating look at the greatest
advances in our scientific history, and at the men and women who made
these fundamental breakthroughs.
Paul Strathern was born in London and studied philosophy at Trinity
College, Dublin. He was a lecturer at Kingston University where he
taught philosophy and mathematics. He is a Somerset Maugham
prize-winning novelist of
A Season in Abyssinia
, as well as four other novels. He is also the author of the
Philosophers in 90 Minutes
series
.
He wrote
Mendeleyev's Dream
which was shortlisted for the Aventis Science Book Prize,
Dr.
Strangelove's Game: A History of Economic Genius
,
The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
,
Napoleon in Egypt
and most recently,
The Artist, The Philosopher and The Warrior
,
which details the convergence of three of Renaissance Italy's most
brilliant minds: Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesare
Borgia. He lives in London and has three grandchildren.
