The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine
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- Create Date：2021-04-10 14:52:28
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Charles Petzold
- ISBN：0470229055
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Summary
Programming Legend Charles Petzold unlocks the secrets of the extraordinary and prescient 1936 paper by Alan M。 Turing
Mathematician Alan Turing invented an imaginary computer known as the Turing Machine; in an age before computers， he explored the concept of what it meant to be "computable，" creating the field of computability theory in the process， a foundation of present-day computer programming。
The book expands Turing's original 36-page paper with additional background chapters and extensive annotations; the author elaborates on and clarifies many of Turing's statements， making the original difficult-to-read document accessible to present day programmers， computer science majors， math geeks， and others。
Interwoven into the narrative are the highlights of Turing's own life: his years at Cambridge and Princeton， his secret work in cryptanalysis during World War II， his involvement in seminal computer projects， his speculations about artificial intelligence， his arrest and prosecution for the crime of "gross indecency，" and his early death by apparent suicide at the age of 41。
Mathematician Alan Turing invented an imaginary computer known as the Turing Machine; in an age before computers， he explored the concept of what it meant to be "computable，" creating the field of computability theory in the process， a foundation of present-day computer programming。
The book expands Turing's original 36-page paper with additional background chapters and extensive annotations; the author elaborates on and clarifies many of Turing's statements， making the original difficult-to-read document accessible to present day programmers， computer science majors， math geeks， and others。
Interwoven into the narrative are the highlights of Turing's own life: his years at Cambridge and Princeton， his secret work in cryptanalysis during World War II， his involvement in seminal computer projects， his speculations about artificial intelligence， his arrest and prosecution for the crime of "gross indecency，" and his early death by apparent suicide at the age of 41。
Reviews
Jeroen Vaelen
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That was a struggle
Paul
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Probably anyone who delves into this isn’t going to be too surprised that it does get quite complex - it’s not a light read。 I studied this stuff at Uni （many years ago admittedly） but I still skipped over the pages of notation defining turing machines， and took the authors word for what they implied。 Despite finding that a bit overbearing， I enjoyed this book for the interesting history of the subject， and some quite delightful reflections at the end on what it all means。
Nathan Ormond
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A very good book on mathematics， computation and philosophy of mind
Marcel
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this book is a fucking epic and enjoyable readabsolute must for everyone into number theory， logic or computing。I wish this was around when I read Goedel Escher Bach for the first time :）It's geeky， nerdy， a lot of mathBut very accessibly written - not academic - but rather an entertaining readnow go read this book is a fucking epic and enjoyable readabsolute must for everyone into number theory， logic or computing。I wish this was around when I read Goedel Escher Bach for the first time :）It's geeky， nerdy， a lot of mathBut very accessibly written - not academic - but rather an entertaining readnow go read 。。。more
F Avery
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If you have any interest in computers， mathematics， the limits of logic， or the history of science and mathematics， this is a marvelous read。 I personally would put it in the top five books I've ever read。 That said， it's not an easy read。 I have graduate degrees in mathematics， and have worked with computers for nearly 40 years， and still found parts of it challenging。 As there are already many reviews describing the kind of book this is， I won't go into detail， but will just list some parts th If you have any interest in computers， mathematics， the limits of logic， or the history of science and mathematics， this is a marvelous read。 I personally would put it in the top five books I've ever read。 That said， it's not an easy read。 I have graduate degrees in mathematics， and have worked with computers for nearly 40 years， and still found parts of it challenging。 As there are already many reviews describing the kind of book this is， I won't go into detail， but will just list some parts that I found particularly interesting。In the introduction the author gives an outline of the book and what you can skip if not interested。 And I was happy to find this sentence on page 149: "No one will punish you if you don't assimilate every symbol and function in Turing's description。"。 However， the background material on the real numbers and the concept of enumerability are essential to understanding the importance of Turing's proofs。 I personally think it's worth the time and effort to at least skim every section。I also loved the occasional esoteric humor。 For example， on page 21 under a diagram of the real numbers is this infinitely understated sentence: "This diagram is not to scale。"。 You'll get the humor once you've read and understood the concepts of enumerability and Cantor's arguments about the real number line。I particularly enjoyed Chapter 16 Conceiving the Continuum， with its discussion of controversy in mathematics。 I hadn't considered the fact that Cantor's and Turing's proofs imply that there are real numbers that are not computable by any algorithm， i。e。 they are completely inaccessible to us。 In what sense can one say such numbers exist then？In conclusion， it's an engaging and educating read。 The time and effort to read it are well spent。 But if you have no interest in the subjects mentioned in my opening paragraph， this is probably not the book for you。 。。。more
Lukasz
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recommendation: [George Hotz | Programming | what is programming？ （noob lessons！） | Science & Technology - YouTube]（https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=N2bXE。。。） recommendation: [George Hotz | Programming | what is programming？ （noob lessons！） | Science & Technology - YouTube]（https://www。youtube。com/watch？v=N2bXE。。。） 。。。more
Adam McCartney
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Very interesting book， glad the author took the time to annotate Turing's paper so thoroughly。 Also contains some interesting historical background info on what lead to this work。 The material is extremely complicated （at least for mere mortals like myself）， butthe author does a great job a presenting it in a modern format that is accessible and engaging。 Very interesting book， glad the author took the time to annotate Turing's paper so thoroughly。 Also contains some interesting historical background info on what lead to this work。 The material is extremely complicated （at least for mere mortals like myself）， butthe author does a great job a presenting it in a modern format that is accessible and engaging。 。。。more
Giacomo Fenzi
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Turing original paper is a must read for any computer scientist， and Petzold is characterically gifted at both explaining foreign concepts and hint at the deeper context that they originate from。 The combination of the two is a match made in even， which makes the seminal and possibly foundational paper of Computer Science accessible， while being as tought-inspiring as when it was written。
Patrick Mulder
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nice translation of a mathematical paper into human language - also relevant from history viewpoint。
Dylan Lea
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Actually enjoyable nonfiction
Александр Гидревич
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Phenomenal book。
Charles
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An excellent book on one of the most influential papers by Alan Turing。 Petzold does a great job explaining and referencing other works that complement his narrative。The short bits of history help a lot in understanding the reasoning behind the authors and how they may have reached their conclusions。 They also act as short breaks between the explanations。I think that this is a must-read for any CS undergraduate or graduate student。 That said， I strongly believe that anybody that is curious enoug An excellent book on one of the most influential papers by Alan Turing。 Petzold does a great job explaining and referencing other works that complement his narrative。The short bits of history help a lot in understanding the reasoning behind the authors and how they may have reached their conclusions。 They also act as short breaks between the explanations。I think that this is a must-read for any CS undergraduate or graduate student。 That said， I strongly believe that anybody that is curious enough， despite his/her background， can find this book interesting and thought-provoking。 。。。more
Michael Brosnahan
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I'm sure I would have given it 5 stars if I had understood more of it I'm sure I would have given it 5 stars if I had understood more of it 。。。more
Blackburn Frostking
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my favorite computer science book
Eugene Maslovich
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Such a wonderful piece。 Very well written and thoroughly explained。 Wish more popular science books were like this one。
Adam Kippis
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Appeals to me as a theoretical mathematician that had to read this type of stuff 20 years ago during my studies。
Rutvik Patel
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This book is the perfect choice if you want to get familiar with the notion of "computability"。 Although Turing's famous paper is the primary focus， author will leave you with more knowledge than that。 The notations used by Turing has been "outdated"， the paper has some mistakes as well， but author has explained the material in a great detail， while pointing out corrections。The book also touched upon topics such as infinite set， logic， Gödel's work， lambda calculus and human mind， everything whi This book is the perfect choice if you want to get familiar with the notion of "computability"。 Although Turing's famous paper is the primary focus， author will leave you with more knowledge than that。 The notations used by Turing has been "outdated"， the paper has some mistakes as well， but author has explained the material in a great detail， while pointing out corrections。The book also touched upon topics such as infinite set， logic， Gödel's work， lambda calculus and human mind， everything which is necessary to understand Turing's paper。 。。。more
Prahesa
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Turing devised a totally new framework in order to solve Hilbert's Entscheidungsproblem （decision problem） in a from of what we know today as Turing Machine。 This imaginary machine turns out to tell a lot more than to just being used as a solution of Hilbert's problem。In this book， The Author gives a nice introduction and background history of why Turing's paper is important。 He also try to explain in details of what Turing was trying to convey in his paper。 At the end of the book， The Author al Turing devised a totally new framework in order to solve Hilbert's Entscheidungsproblem （decision problem） in a from of what we know today as Turing Machine。 This imaginary machine turns out to tell a lot more than to just being used as a solution of Hilbert's problem。In this book， The Author gives a nice introduction and background history of why Turing's paper is important。 He also try to explain in details of what Turing was trying to convey in his paper。 At the end of the book， The Author also highlights the importance of Turing's paper in knowing the universe（s） and consciousness。A good read for anyone curious enough， and a good refresh for Computer Scientists-alike。 。。。more
Alex
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The annotations throughout are extremely helpful， and the author does a nice job adding historical context that really enhances reading this classic proof。
Toropenko Sergey
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Very high-brow。
Bram
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I found this book to be the most enjoyable way to read a scientific paper ever。 The way the book is structured is just excellent: Historical context provided but optional， scary maths not simplified but explained and also optional。 On top of that， the writing is very accessible and nice to read。The only problem I had in reading this was not so much to do with Petzold （or Turing） but with the logical syntax and the way it is presented。 There is such a sheer amount of symbols in this paper that ev I found this book to be the most enjoyable way to read a scientific paper ever。 The way the book is structured is just excellent: Historical context provided but optional， scary maths not simplified but explained and also optional。 On top of that， the writing is very accessible and nice to read。The only problem I had in reading this was not so much to do with Petzold （or Turing） but with the logical syntax and the way it is presented。 There is such a sheer amount of symbols in this paper that even to someone used to the syntax， the formulas towards the end of the paper become borderline unreadable without a legend。 The finishing touch to this book would be to provide some sort of system that would make this more "reading-material" than "study-material"。Nevertheless， this was an exellent book and I think this kind of text is how fundamental research should be presented much more often。 。。。more
Erkin Unlu
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Bu kitapla İTÜ Bilgisayar yıllarıma geri döndüm : ）。 Döndüm dönmesine ama koskoca 4 yılda Turing makinalarını öğrendiğim zamanı hatırlayamadım。 Biçimsel Diller ve Otomatlar dersinde öğrenmiş olmam gerektiğini biliyordum ama hatırlayamadım。 Ulan yoksa İTÜ’de Turing mi öğretmiyorlar derken sebebini biraz araştırma yaparak farkettim: söz konusu ders Turing makinalarını en sona bırakmıştı。 Son haftaların konuları da genelde finallerde çıkmadığından， o kısımlara ya çalışmamışım ya da hiç öğrenmemişim Bu kitapla İTÜ Bilgisayar yıllarıma geri döndüm : ）。 Döndüm dönmesine ama koskoca 4 yılda Turing makinalarını öğrendiğim zamanı hatırlayamadım。 Biçimsel Diller ve Otomatlar dersinde öğrenmiş olmam gerektiğini biliyordum ama hatırlayamadım。 Ulan yoksa İTÜ’de Turing mi öğretmiyorlar derken sebebini biraz araştırma yaparak farkettim: söz konusu ders Turing makinalarını en sona bırakmıştı。 Son haftaların konuları da genelde finallerde çıkmadığından， o kısımlara ya çalışmamışım ya da hiç öğrenmemişim。 : ）） Zar zor geçmiştim zaten o dersten。 Kitabı kesinlikle her bilgisayar mühendisine ve matematikçiye öneririm。 Bilgisayar ve matematik bilimi açısından çok büyük önem taşıyan Çözülebilirlik， Sonsuz Kümelerin Sayılması， Gerçek Sayıların Sayılamaması， Devam/Dur problemleri gibi konuları anlaşılabilir dille anlatmış yazar（çünkü Turing anlaşılabilir biçimde anlatmamış:） ）。 Turing’in hayatını（kısa ömründeki başarıları ve kendisini intihara sürükleyen süreç） ve çağdaşları olan önemli bilim insanlarının hayatını anlatması açısından da oldukça önemli bir çalışma olmuş。 Kitabın özellikle son bölümü ayrıca bilgisayarlar， zihin ve limitler üzerine felsefi yaklaşmak isteyenleri de tatmin edecektir。 5 yıldızı bir bilgisayarcı olarak veriyorum， konusu matematik yada bilgisayar olmayanlar bu değerlendirmeye bakmasınlar : ）。 Not: Kitap yer yer zorlaşıyor（özellikle az sayıda da olsa Turing’in hatalı yazdığı tasarladığı kısımlar var）， ve zor kısımları anlamak oldukça güç。 İşaretleyip， kitabı bitirdikten sonra dönmek daha faydalı olacaktır。 。。。more
Michael Webb
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You need to be an incredibly patient person to get the most out of this book。 I am not that person。
Ismail Mayat
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Found it quite difficult to get through but that is due to my lack of mathematical knowledge， that said very interesting in places。 I did skip quite a few sections。
Alain van Hoof
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A Great explanation of the Original Turing Paper。 Need to read is again some day， to really understand what Turing wrote， the C。 Petzold part is clear though。
Doug
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This is a terrific concept， and I wish there were more like it。 Take a famous academic paper that is not easy-going， and throw in 300 pages of explanation in and around the paper。 Even so， it is still tough going， real in-the-weeds stuff， and frequently tedious。 I must admit， I glazed over towards the last section on computable functions， but it's already calling my name to read it over。 This is a terrific concept， and I wish there were more like it。 Take a famous academic paper that is not easy-going， and throw in 300 pages of explanation in and around the paper。 Even so， it is still tough going， real in-the-weeds stuff， and frequently tedious。 I must admit， I glazed over towards the last section on computable functions， but it's already calling my name to read it over。 。。。more
Qiongsi Wu
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This is a very nice book on the classical paper by Turing。 The annotations are extremely helpful。 They offered a ton of interesting background and explanations。 The only reason （very personal reason） that I am not giving it 5 stars is that this is still not a good book as an introduction to Turing machine （which was what I bought it for）。 I was hoping the annotation would turn Turing's mystical presentation into something cleaner。 It does， to some extent， but still not as good as more modern tex This is a very nice book on the classical paper by Turing。 The annotations are extremely helpful。 They offered a ton of interesting background and explanations。 The only reason （very personal reason） that I am not giving it 5 stars is that this is still not a good book as an introduction to Turing machine （which was what I bought it for）。 I was hoping the annotation would turn Turing's mystical presentation into something cleaner。 It does， to some extent， but still not as good as more modern textbooks do。 With all that said， kudos to Charles Petzold for this wonderful little book！ 。。。more
Andrés
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Definitely one of the best books I've ever read。I'm fascinated by Alan Turing's work and have wanted to dive into his historic paper for a long time。 This was the perfect book for it。Having majored in Computer Science and loving Theory of Computation gave me enough background to avoid frustration at the challenge of reading through Turing's words。 On the other hand 'On Computable Numbers， With An Application To The Entscheidungsproblem' is indeed a mathematics paper。 However， Charles Petzold's s Definitely one of the best books I've ever read。I'm fascinated by Alan Turing's work and have wanted to dive into his historic paper for a long time。 This was the perfect book for it。Having majored in Computer Science and loving Theory of Computation gave me enough background to avoid frustration at the challenge of reading through Turing's words。 On the other hand 'On Computable Numbers， With An Application To The Entscheidungsproblem' is indeed a mathematics paper。 However， Charles Petzold's style of writing is extremely engaging and manages to go through some very complicated and technical concepts， and mathematical proofs， with enough ease to help you not feel lost。Humanity owes so much to Turing's work。 If you too love CS and have interest in his legacy， this book is a must read for you。 。。。more
Jose
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Good read
Mickey Kawick
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