Alan Turing

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When Dermot Turing is asked about his famous uncle, people want to know more than the bullet points of his life. They want to know *everythin*g – was Alan Turing actually a codebreaker? What did he make of artificial intelligence? What is the significance of Alan Turing’s trial, his suicide, the Royal Pardon, the £50 note and the film *The Imitation Game*?

Prof Alan Turing decoded paperback cover — Alan Turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into a life of only 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. He is widely regarded as a war hero grossly mistreated by his unappreciative country and it has become hard to disentangle the real man from the story. It is easy to cast him as a misfit, the stereotypical professor. But actually Alan Turing was never a professor, and his nickname ‘Prof’ was given by his codebreaking friends at Bletchley Park.

Today, Alan Turing is a well-recognised name, but it was not always so. Until the last few years of the 20th century hardly anyone had heard of him or his achievements. All that changed when the British government permitted the story of Bletchley Park during the Second World War to emerge.

Reviews of Dermot Turing’s Books

Strips away the encrusted hagiography that has developed around Alan Turing in recent years … a passionate argument for the lessons we should draw from his life and his extraordinary scientific achievements.
Robert Hannigan, Former Director of GCHQ, April 2021

Fascinating and highly readable… My wife Rohini and I feel particularly grateful to have a special link to [Alan Turing] through our house in Coonoor …. where Alan’s mother lived for many years.
Nanden Nilekani, Chairman and Co-Founder of Infosys, April 2021

Dermot compels us to learn from his uncle’s incredible life and many achievements in our own pursuit of creating a better world for all.
Liz Carr, Actress and Comedian, April 2021

The anecdotes flow as Dermot warms to his theme. ‘Prof’ really is a cracking read and no engineer’s library is complete without it on their shelves.
Nick Smith, Engineering and Technology, November 2015

Articles about Alan Turing

Dermot Turing has also contributed to recent articles about Alan Turing.

April 2021
Alan Turing — awkward, solitary loner? Not according to a new book by his nephew. The Times.

March 2021
Cracking the code: Alan Turing’s nephew reveals why public acclaim for the genius of Bletchley Park is more about today’s attitudes than his achievements. The Sunday Post.

November 2019
The philanthropy of Alan Turing. University of Manchester, Faculty of Science and Engineering Blog.

October 2019
Alan Turing’s legacy should be for his triumphs, rather than his tragedy. Science Focus.

Talks about Alan Turing

The Buzz Podcast. Alan Turing. Dermot Turing and James Sumner. September 2020.

A Reagan Forum with Sir Dermot Turing. The Mythology of Alan Turing. Dermot Turing draws on insights gained during the research for his book “Prof: Alan Turing Decoded” to discuss whether the Imitation Game is myth or reality. January 2016.

Talks at Google. Man and Machine. Alan Turing and the Development of the Computer. January 2016.

Sourcing Photographs of Alan Turing for a Publication or Documentary

The Turing family transferred its archive of photographs of Alan Turing to King’s College, Cambridge. They are held as part of the Turing Digital Archive under reference AMT/K/7. Requests for permission to reproduce can be sent to archivist@kings.cam.ac.uk or by post to: The Archivist, King’s College, Cambridge CB2 1ST.