Why a Booktrail?
1930s – 1940s: Alan Turing’s nephew, Dermot Turing, takes a fresh look at the influences on Alan Turing’s life
Prof: Alan Turing Decoded
What you need to know before your trail
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
Locations
Reset- England - Buckinghamshire - Bletchley
- A: Bletchley Park - The train station
- B: Hut 12
- C: Hut 11
- D: Bletchley Park Mansion
Travel Guide
Bletchley Park
Alan Turing was not ‘famous’ or well known in any way during his lifetime. Today however, he is famous for being the man who conceived modern computing and played a crucial part in the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in WW2.
Tragically, he was also a victim of mid-20th Century attitudes to homosexuality – he was chemically castrated before dying at the age of 41 from cyanide poisoning. It is still uncertain whether it was suicide or not.
When you get to see Alan Turing’s desk – speechless. This man’s story is more than retold here – there’s even a brick in an honorary wall bearing his name. And his office was so small! Oh and that huge machine he built – remarkable. There are no words to describe what he achieved and what it’s like standing in the
Trail Gallery
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Prof: Alan Turing Decoded
Destination: Bletchley Author/Guide: Dermot Turing Departure Time: 1912 – 1954
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