Man Who Knew Too Much (edition 2006)

Excellent biography of Alan Turing with an emphasis on explaining his contributions to computing. Some details of the math to illustrate the key concepts. ( )

Alan Turing was one of the most fascinating figures of 20th century history. His theoretical mathematical work that led to the invention of the computer, his key role in breaking the Nazis' Enigma code during WW II, and his acceptance of his own homosexuality at a time when most of society still considered it unnatural, all put him ahead of his time.

David Leavitt is a gay writer who writes both fiction and nonfiction. He has a narrative style which is easy to read. That is a definite asset in this book, since he addresses some mathematical concepts which might not be easy for everyone to understand.

Leavitt gives a great deal of attention to Turing's sexuality, and argues for two points in particular. One is not very controversial. He points out that other mathematicians who disagreed with Turing's theoretical views used an incorrect syllogism to dismiss those views: "Turing thinks that machines can think. Turing sleeps with men. Therefore, machines cannot think."

The other point Leavitt brings up is more controversial. He makes the case that Turing's homosexuality made him a better mathematical thinker. Basically, the argument is that Turing knew from his own experience that being gay was perfectly natural and that the majority of society was wrong on the issue; that made him a more original thinker in general, which led to his revolutionary ideas that laid the foundation for the invention of the computer. This idea was very intriguing to me, since I frequently hear a similar idea brought up in connection to gay artists and writers, but rarely in connection to gay mathematicians or scientists. ( )

British mathematician Alan Turing laid many of the foundations of computer science. He also played a significant role in winning WWII with his work on breaking German codes, only to eventually be driven to suicide by the society he had helped to save, which proved incapable of tolerating his homosexuality. It's an important, fascinating story of genius, triumph and tragedy.... and this book, alas, does not do it justice. As a biography of Turing, it just feels lacking. In fact, the earliest sections are downright annoying, as Leavitt keeps going off on tangents, generally literary ones, that have very little to do with Turing. For a while, I felt as if I were reading an English term paper by someone making a desperate attempt to impress the teacher with his reading, not to mention his ability to find sexual subtext in everything up to and including abstract mathematics. It does sort of settle down after that, and portions of it were actually pretty interesting, but I still don't feel as if I've come away from it with much more of an understanding of Turing the person than I had when I started. I think that's largely because Leavitt tells us a lot about Turing -- or rather, about his ideas about Turing -- but shows us very little. And so much of what he has to say is speculation that seldom seems to be particularly well grounded. It's rather one-note speculation, too; Leavitt never does stop with that sexual subtext thing. It is at least rather more successful as an explanation of Turing's work, especially if you're interested in the gritty mathematical details. Although, really, I think it goes into quite a bit more gritty mathematical detail than most readers are likely to want or need.

In other words, this is yet another book with lots of interesting potential that turned out to be disappointing. I've been reading too many of those lately. It's made me grumpy, and inclined to rate this one lower than I otherwise might. ( )

Not bad when the book works with well-supported facts, but the author frequently dives into what IMHO appears to be amateurish psychoanalysis and speculation. Turing was an eccentric, complex, and brilliant person with a tragic history. Will have to seek out another biography, like Hodges' "Alan Turing: The Enigma". ( )

This volume in Norton's Great Discoveries series is an uneven short biography of the ur-computer scientist Alan Turing. When it's good, it's very good, but much of the science seems to be a dull, confusing rehash of other authors' explanations. ( )