Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine
The Master Codebreaker's Struggle to build the Modern Computer
Published on 1. May 2005
Book
Hardback
576 pages
978-0-19-856593-2 (ISBN)
Description
The mathematical genius Alan Turing (1912-1954) was one of the greatest scientists and thinkers of the 20th century. Now well known for his crucial wartime role in breaking the ENIGMA code, he was the first to conceive of the fundamental principle of the modern computer-the idea of controlling a computing machine's operations by means of a program of coded instructions, stored in the machine's 'memory'. In 1945 Turing drew up his revolutionary design for an electronic computing machine-his Automatic Computing Engine ('ACE'). A pilot model of the ACE ran its first program in 1950 and the production version, the 'DEUCE', went on to become a cornerstone of the fledgling British computer industry. The first 'personal' computer was based on Turing's ACE. Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine describes Turing's struggle to build the modern computer. The first detailed history of Turing's contributions to computer science, this text is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the computer and the history of mathematics. It contains first hand accounts by Turing and by the pioneers of computing who worked with him.As well as relating the story of the invention of the computer, the book clearly describes the hardware and software of the ACE-including the very first computer programs.
The book is intended to be accessible to everyone with an interest in computing, and contains numerous diagrams and illustrations as well as original photographs. The book contains chapters describing Turing's path-breaking research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Life (A-Life). The book has an extensive system of hyperlinks to The Turing Archive for the History of Computing, an on-line library of digital facsimiles of typewritten documents by Turing and the other scientists who pioneered the electronic computer.
The book is intended to be accessible to everyone with an interest in computing, and contains numerous diagrams and illustrations as well as original photographs. The book contains chapters describing Turing's path-breaking research in the fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Life (A-Life). The book has an extensive system of hyperlinks to The Turing Archive for the History of Computing, an on-line library of digital facsimiles of typewritten documents by Turing and the other scientists who pioneered the electronic computer.
Reviews / Votes
the amount of information collected by the editor is huge and it offers interesting reading for anybody with a deep interest in computer history. EMS Newsletter Wonderful...The Essential Turing is a must. J. Bowen, The Times Higher Education Supplement This book (and the related website of the Turing Archive) will be an invaluable reference for anyone seeking to understand the early history of British computers. P. Aldrich Kidwell, Technology and Culture vol. 47, pp. 460-462 An excellent documentary of Alan Turing's work ... The book provides rare insights ... The presentation is not technical but historical and inspirational ... Summing up: Recommended for general readers. CHOICE This is a provocative book. A Booth, Mathematical ReviewsMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Computer scientists, mathematicians, electrical and electronic engineers, philosophers, logicians, and historians of computing, mathematics, science and technology. The first detailed history of Turing's contributions to computer science, this text is essential reading for academics interested in the history of the computer and the history of mathematics and will be recommended reading for courses on the history of computing and for some computer science courses. It will also be of interest to members of the IT industry.
Illustrations
numerous line drawings, tables, halftones and mathematical examples
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
1153 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-856593-2 (9780198565932)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Content
Foreword; Introduction; PART I: THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY AND THE ACE PROJECT; A Century of Measurement and Computation at the National Physical Laboratory, 1900-2000; The Creation of the NPL Mathematics Division; The Origins and Development of the ACE Project; The Pilot ACE at the National Physical Laboratory; PART II: TURING AND THE HISTORY OF COMPUTING; The ACE and the Shaping of British Computing; Computer Architecture and the ACE Computers; Turing and the Computer; From Turing Machine to "Electronic Brain"; PART III: THE ACE COMPUTERS; The Pilot ACE Instruction Format; Programming the Pilot ACE; The Pilot ACE: from Concept to Reality; The DEUCE-a User's View; Applications of the Pilot ACE and the DEUCE; The ACE Test Assembly, the Pilot ACE, the Big ACE, and the Bendix G15; The ACE Simulator and the Cybernetic Model; The Pilot Model and the Big ACE on the Web; PART IV: ELECTRONICS; How Valves Work; Recollections of Early Vacuum Tube Circuits; Circuit Design of the Pilot ACE and the Big ACE; PART V: TECHNICAL REPORTS AND LECTURES ON THE ACE AND THE PILOT ACE, 1945-1951; Proposed Electronic Calculator (1945); Notes on Memory (1945); The Turing-Wilkinson Lecture Series (1946-1947); The State of the Art in Electronic Digital Computing in Britain and the United States (1947)