Alan Turing The Life of a Genius

Alan Turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into a life of only 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. His codebreaking work at Bletchley Park was so significant it helped to shorten the Second World War, and with Tommy Flowers he built the first computer. A man ahead of his time, many of his theories and calculations are still relevant today. Often believed to be an eccentric loner, recent research by his nephew, Dermot Turing, has unearthed a fresh perspective, and here his story is condensed into a short, accessible Pitkin guide.

Sir Dermot Turing was educated at Sherborne and Cambridge, like his uncle, Alan Turing, before him. After completing his DPhil in Genetics at New College, Oxford, Dermot moved into the legal profession, working first for HM Treasury Solicitor's Department and then for Clifford Chance, where he was a partner from 1999-2014. As Alan Turing's nephew, Dermot has followed closely the gradual revelation of the achievements of the Bletchley codebreakers from the first release of materials in 1975 and the reopening of Bletchley Park to the public in the early 1990s. He is a serving Trustee of Bletchley Park.