Turing

by Andrew Hodges

Philosophy is one of the most intimidating and difficult of disciplines, as any of its students can attest. This book is an important entry in a distinctive new series from The Great Philosophers. Breaking down obstacles to understanding the ideas of history's greatest thinkers, these brief, accessible, and affordable volumes offer essential introductions to the great philosophers of the Western tradition from Plato to Wittgenstein. In just 64 pages, each author, a specialist on his subject, places the philosopher and his ideas into historical perspective. Each volume explains, in simple terms, the basic concepts, enriching the narrative through the effective use of biographical detail. And instead of attempting to explain the philosopher's entire intellectual history, which can be daunting, this series takes one central theme in each philosopher's work, using it to unfold the philosopher's thoughts.

Genres: Philosophy, Biography, Nonfiction, Science, History, Mathematics

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Andrew Hodges is a British mathematician, author and an activist in the gay liberation movement of the 1970s.
Since the early 1970s, Hodges has worked on twistor theory which is the approach to the problems of fundamental physics pioneered by Roger Penrose.
He is a Tutorial Fellow in mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford University.

Reviews

[Jon Stout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hodges, who wrote the definitive biography of Alan Turing, but who is not himself a philosopher, found himself responding to philosophical queries about his book, and decided to write about Turing as natural philosopher.

As a mathematician, Turing has come to play an critical role in contemporary philosophy because he developed a theory of what it means for either a human mind or a computer to function (i.e. to compute).

The book addresses fascinating questions regarding whether thinking can be described in purely mathematical terms, and whether machines can think. It also gives personal insight into the mind of a genius and of a martyr of the twentienth century.

[Aikku · Rating 3 out of 5]

En tajunnut suurinta osaa. Hankalia matemaattisia sanoja joten lukukokemus meni vähän siinä, mutta aihe on kiinnostava ja jotkut quotet oli kivoja joten luen varmaan uudelleen sit kun tajuun matikasta enemmän

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The biographical aspects of the book clearly portray an exceptional intellect tragically driven to despair by the intolerance of his time.

As for the philosophical explanations, I found them difficult to follow. A tiny book became a two month read because after a few sentences I would find it tiresome. I kept avoiding it for weeks and kept dragging myself back for more. Finishing was a relief, yet looking back I doubt that I caught much of the argument.

[Will Towne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I find it incredibly frustrating when interesting subjects such as intelligence, AI, and Alan Turing, are discussed in such a poor and obfuscating way. Granted, the complex nature of these topics doesn't make for particularly light reading, but a good author can deliver the content in an informative and entertaining way, e.g., the works of Thomas Metzinger, Peter Watts, and Douglas Hofstadter. Andrew Hodges, I've since learned, can't - not in this book anyway.

It's funny how a slim volume such as this can feel so turgid. Hodges's writing is too goddamn unclear and disjointed in its description and discussion of Turing's life and work for me to enjoy what should have been a pleasant and brief overview of an incredibly important figure in both philosophy and computation. I might not be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree when it comes to mathematics or logic, but I'm no dummy; unfortunately, Hodges's descriptions of Turing's basic thought experiments, viz. his 'Turing machines' and 'Imitation game,' left me feeling frustrated and decidedly dummy-like, and that's certainly not the feeling you want when reading a book.

I have a copy of Hodges's Alan Turing: The Enigma on my shelf, but after this I'm not feeling enthusiastic about starting it. If, like me, you're interested in Turing and/or the philosophy of intelligence, there're probably much better introductions/overviews out there. Not recommended.

[Oscar Dent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet. There is discussion of Turing's various ideas, some of his work, and some of his life. There is not a lot to get your teeth into, but it definitely provides some insight into more of the man and his story than we are used to.

Having said that, a lot of the discussion of his work goes far beyond the ability of the layman (including me), so you would probably get more from this work if you already have some experience of Alan's work or the topics he tackled.

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this author’s excellent and comprehensive biography of Turing a while ago - this short book links his key scientific papers and different stages of his areas of interest with philosophy and the role of intuition in mathematical models. I just about followed parts of this book but not really all of it - worth a try though!

[Jack Hygate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really satisfying review of his academic life - much more of a exciting set of ideas than I realised. He really was ahead of his time (hello ML theories) I hope to reread this soon and research the topics raised in further detail

[Joel Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brush up on your mathematical proofs before delving into this one... and then do it again. Great read emphasizing logic and logical inferences.

[Brian Beatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed this, and spent time pondering ideas in here. I’m doing some research on Turing patterns and love his ideas on self replicating automata.

[dolohov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even in this short book, Hodges achieves his ambition of overcoming “the twentieth-century chasm between scientific thought and human life.”

[Altair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mix between a biography and a description of Turing discoveries and specifically the one related to the famous Turing Test. I find the description of Turing's views about the mind and intelligence immensely interesting, even if I found the book difficult and abstract.
It is a hard choice as a first read for an introduction to Turing's assertions.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little mathy to start with, and it seemed to make a lot of excuses for Turing. He kept on explaining what he thought that Turing meant. I'm reading the big book by the same author now. Since it is a biography and not a treatise on Turing's natural philosophy it should be easier to understand and give a better understanding of Turing's impact.

[Connor Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful survey of Turing's thought for those who don't care to read his numerous papers or the myriad of biographies about him. Because of how short it is, it does gloss over some of the more complicated and ambiguous elements of his thought.

[Dave Peticolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tiny little book about the mathematician, philosopher, and founder of modern computing Alan Turing.