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Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game

Page 94

by Andrew Hodges


  trip to St Moritz 14

  1922

  studies at Hazelhurst school in Kent 14–19

  reads Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know, eyes opened to science 16–18

  1923

  invents ‘cinema’ machine 18–19

  invents modified fountain pen 19

  moves to Watton-at-Stone, Hertfordshire 20

  trip to Rouen, France 20

  father resigns from Indian Civil Service and lives as tax exile in Dinard, France 20

  takes interest in learning French, sends postcard about ‘la revolution’ to mother 22

  1924

  trips to Oxford and Wales, takes interest in maths, maps and chess 23

  develops passion for chemistry 23–6

  spends Christmas in Dinard 25

  1925

  studies for Common Entrance examination 25

  sits entrance exam for Marlborough 26

  1926

  accepted to study at Sherborne School, Dorset 27

  cycles from Southampton to Sherborne 27–8

  begins studies at Sherborne 28–32

  1927

  has trouble adapting to school life 32–4

  finds infinite series for the ‘inverse tangent function’ 34

  isolated in sanatorium with mumps 35

  confirmation 35

  sexual awakening 38

  first notices Christopher Morcom 45–6

  A. H. T. Ross frustrated by his attitude to New Testament 39

  has trouble adapting to school life 40

  boils ‘witches’ brew’ on window sill 41

  1928

  Matthew Blamey sent to share study and help him conform 40

  studies for School Certificate 42

  held back in the fifth form, takes sixth-form maths classes with Eperson 43

  studies Einstein’s theory of relativity 43–5

  forms friendship with Christopher Morcom 45–7

  1929

  enters sixth form, continues friendship with Christopher 47–50, 53–4

  studies for Higher School Certificate 49–50

  investigates iodate experiment with Christopher 51–2

  develops interest in astronomy, studies quantum theory 52–3, 85

  receives subsidy from Sherborne 54

  attempts to win Trinity College scholarship with Christopher 54–6

  rejected by Trinity for scholarship 57

  1930

  stargazing, spots comet in Delphinus 57–9

  death of Christopher 59, 60–3

  visits Cornwall with Geoffrey O’Hanlon 63

  travels to Gibraltar with the Morcoms 63–4

  visits Clock House, presents Mrs Morcom with parcel of Christopher’s letters 64–5

  continues with iodate experiment for Christopher Morcom Prize, perspective drawing 66

  studies for Higher School Certificate 67

  wins Christopher Morcom Prize, studies German 67–8

  conducts Foucault pendulum experiment at Westcott House 68

  writes recollections of Christopher for Mrs Morcom 68–9

  visits Clock House, holidays in Donegal 69

  made a School Prefect 70–2

  friendship with Victor Beuttell, enjoys going running 72–4

  elected to scholarship at King’s College, Cambridge 74–5

  1931

  studies for Higher Certificate, wins Christopher Morcom Prize 75

  goes on walking holiday with Peter Hogg and George Maclure 75

  takes on David Harris as a ‘fag’, wins art competition and King Edward VI gold medal 76

  visits Sark with O’Hanlon, Peter Hogg and Arthur Harris 76–7

  begins studies at King’s College 77–9

  forms friendship with David Champernowne 79–80

  1932

  joins college Boat Club, falls in love with Kenneth Harrison 80–1

  Mrs Morcom returns Christopher’s letters, visits him in Cambridge 81

  visits Clock House, views Christopher’s memorial panel at Catshill parish church 81–2

  placed in second class in Part I of Tripos, Mrs Morcom sends ‘Research’ fountain pen 86–7

  holidays in Germany, Ireland and Sark, fruit-flies escape and infest house at Guildford 87

  stays with Beuttells in London 88

  visits Sherbourne for house supper with Victor 89

  wanders into David Champernowne’s room drunk, told to ‘get a grip on himself’ 90

  1933

  third anniversary of Christopher’s death 90

  joins ‘Anti-War Council’ 92–3, 642

  forms relationship with James Atkins, walking holiday in Lake District 96–7

  visits Clock House to remember Christopher 97–8

  continues relationship with James, incident at Founder’s Feast 98

  makes friends with Fred Clayton 98–9

  studies pure mathematics 101–3

  reads paper to Moral Science Club 110

  1934

  works on Central Limit Theorem 113

  holiday in Austrian Alps, passes Part II of Tripos with distinction 113–14

  cycling trip to Germany 114–15

  works on dissertation, takes Part III course on Foundations of Mathematics 116

  asks mother for teddy bear 114

  1935

  elected fellow of King’s College, writes paper on group theory 121–2

  investigates Entscheidungsproblem, invents Turing machine 123–40

  1936

  completes paper on Entscheidungsproblem 141–5

  applies for Procter Fellowship at Princeton 144

  wins Smith’s Prize 145

  Victor Beuttell comes to stay at Cambridge 145–6

  visits Clock House 146–7

  takes Cunard liner to America 147–8

  studies at Princeton University 148–52

  abdication of Edward VIII 154–6

  gives lecture at Mathematical Club, Computable Numbers published 157–9

  visits Francis Underhill in New York, skiing trip in New Hampshire 163

  1937

  social life at Princeton 163

  writes papers on lambda-calculus and group theory 164–5

  applies for lectureship at Cambridge 165–6

  offered second year of Procter Fellowship at Princeton 166–7

  visits Jack Crawford, returns to England 167–8

  works on theory of numbers 169–72

  boating holiday, visits Beuttells 173

  returns to Princeton with Will Jones 173–4

  designs electric multiplier for cryptanalysis 175–8

  works on Riemann zeta-function 178–80

  stays with Venable Martin in South Carolina 180

  1938

  works on Gödel’s theorem, ordinal logics 180–3

  offered job at Institute for Advanced Study 183

  leaves Princeton, heads back to Cambridge 183–4

  recruited by Government Code and Cypher School 188–9

  returns to King’s College, offers faculty course on Foundations of Mathematics 189–90

  1939

  sponsors Jewish refugee Robert ‘Bob’ Augenfeld 191

  works with Government Code and Cypher School 192–3

  joins Wittgenstein’s class on Foundations of Mathematics 193–6

  designs Turing zeta-function machine 196–9

  boating holiday, outbreak of World War II 200–1

  cryptanalytic work at Bletchley Park, designs Turing Bombe 202–37

  1940

  invasion of Norway, German patrol boat VP2623 captured 238–9

  buries silver ingots 242–3

  holiday in Wales with Bob, makes sexual advance 243–4

  investigates inverse probability 246–8

  1941

  life at Bletchley Park 256–90

  meets Winston Churchill 259

  engagement to Joan Clarke 259–61, 264–5

  studies chess, theory o
f games 266–70

  works on theory of types, writes ‘The Reform of Mathematical Notation’ 270–2

  holiday in Wales with Joan, breaks off engagement 272–3

  1942

  works on ‘Turingismus’ 291

  enrolls in infantry section of Home Guard 292–3

  awarded £200 by Foreign Office 295

  sent to Washington D. C. with British Joint Staff Mission xxii, 298, 304, 305–8

  1943

  visits the Crawfords, death of Jack 308

  works on speech encipherment at Bell Laboratories 309–18

  takes Empress of Scotland back to Britain 318–21

  returns to Bletchley Park 329–37

  Christmas, works on speech encipherment 337–9

  transfers to Hanslope Park 339–41

  1944

  Robin Gandy and Donald Bayley arrive at Hanslope Park 342–3

  works on ‘Delilah’ speech encipherment project xxiii, 343–50

  moves into Officers’ Mess at Hanslope Park 350–3

  works on ‘Delilah’ speech encipherment project xxiii, 353–8

  1945

  works on ‘Delilah’ speech encipherment project 358–64

  VE Day 363

  works on Universal Turing Machine 364–83

  recruited by National Physical Laboratory 383–6

  visits Germany to write report on communications 391–3

  works at National Physical Laboratory on Automatic Computing Engine 394–424

  joins Walton Athletics Club 434

  cycles into London for lecture, bicycle stolen 434

  1946

  awarded Order of the British Empire 424–5

  works on Automatic Computing Engine 425–33

  meets with James Atkins 464

  hunts for buried silver ingots 433

  trains for marathon running 434–5

  gives lectures on Automatic Computing Engine 443–4

  Boxing Day athletics meeting 444–5

  1947

  travels to America for Symposium on Large Scale Digital Calculating Machinery 445

  visits Princeton 446

  gives talk at London Mathematical Society 448–9

  runs in Southern Counties ten-mile championship 464

  gets in contact with Fred Clayton 464

  Harry Huskey builds Version H of Automatic Computing Engine 459–60

  withdraws from ACE development, takes ‘sabbatical year’ 462

  visits Bosham 464

  death of father 464–5

  holiday with Fred Clayton 465–6

  resumes fellowship at King’s 466–8

  writes numerical analysis paper 468

  1948

  gives lecture on ‘Problems of Robots’ at Moral Science Club 469

  relationship with Neville Johnson 470–1

  writes report on Intelligent Machinery for NPL 474–86

  attends Olympic Games 486–7

  holiday with Neville in Switzerland, week in Lake District with Peter Matthews 487

  trip to Wales with Robin Gandy 489–90

  attends Bob’s wedding, heads to Manchester 490

  works as Deputy Director of Royal Society Computing Laboratory, Manchester University 491–6

  stays on at Manchester as freelance professor 496–9

  1949

  stays in Criccieth with the Newmans 499

  holiday in France with Neville 499

  devises ‘Presents’ game with robin and Nick 500

  works on Ferranti machine 500–7

  interviewed by The Times 511

  gives talk at EDSAC inaugural conference 512

  joins Ratio Club, works on group theory 518–20

  1950

  writes Computing Machinery and Intelligence, imitation game 522–37

  moves into ‘Hollymeade’ house in Cheshire 537–9

  investigates morphogenesis 543–8

  meets with J. Z. Young to discuss brain-cells 548–50

  1951

  becomes Fellow of the Royal Society 552–4

  investigates word problem for groups, takes interest in topology 555–6

  gives ‘Can Digital Computers Think?’ talk on BBC Third Programme 556

  investigates morphogenesis, runs Hydra simulation, 560

  trip to London, visits Festival of Britain and Science Museum 561–2

  completes paper on morphogenesis 563

  writes short story 564–5, 654

  relationship with Arnold Murray 565–7

  1952

  appears on BBC Third Programme debate 567–9

  continues relationship with Arnold Murray 569–71

  death of Sybil 572

  house broken into, suspects Arnold Murray 572

  Arnold calls round to protest innocence 573

  police investigate burglary, admits to having affair with Arnold 574–6

  charged with ‘gross indecency’ 576

  prosecuted for ‘gross indecency’ xxiii–xxiv, 582–6, 588, 593–5

  tells mother about his sexuality 584

  continues with work on morphogenesis 587

  placed on probation, starts organo-therapic treatment xviii, 595–7

  friendship with Lyn Newman, reads Tolstoy 598–9

  attends Ratio Club meeting, holiday in Norway xviii, 599–600

  contributes to Faster than Thought book 602

  visits Don Bayley in Woburn Sands 603–4

  trip to Wilmslow with Robin and Don 604

  psychoanalysis with Franz Greenbaum xxvi, xxx, 605–7

  1953

  ‘crisis’ over Robin’s PhD thesis 607–9

  conducts electrolytic experiments in ‘nightmare room’ 609

  ‘Kjell crisis’ xxii, 608–9, 634

  gives lectures at Sherborne 609–10

  appointed to Readership in the Theory of Computing 612

  visits to the Greenbaums’

  house 611–12

  holiday to Corfu 612–13

  investigates Radiolaria with Bernard Richards 620–1

  Christmas 615, 617, 641

  1954

  writes Solvable and Unsolvable

  Problems article 623

  trip to Blackpool with the Greenbaums, visits fortune teller 625

  sends ‘Messages from the Unseen World’ postcards to Robin 645–8, 647

  suicide 614–17

  cremation 665

  Turing, Alick (uncle) 4

  Turing, Arthur (uncle) 4, 625

  Turing, Ethel Sara (née Stoney) (mother) xii–xiii, 6–9, 22, 26, 153, 302, 553, 624

  birth 6

  moves to Dublin, attends Cheltenham Ladies College 7

  returns to live with parents in India, takes up water-colour painting 7

  meets Julius Turing 6, 7

  takes Pacific route back to England from India 7

  marries Julius in Dublin 7

  returns to Coonoor, India 8

  birth of John 8

  conception of Alan 8

  returns to England, birth of Alan 8–9

  returns to India, Alan and John sent to live with the Wards in St Leonards 9

  visits children in England, frustrated with Alan’s behaviour 10

  braves U-boats to return to England, holidays in Scottish Highlands 10

  decides to separate from Julius for three years to look after children 10

  John sent to Hazelhurst school in Kent 10

  lives with Alan in St Leonards, attends Anglican church 10

  presses on with water-colour painting 10–11

  Julius returns to England, holiday in Ullapool, Scotland 14

  returns to India with Julius 14

  returns to England and finds Alan unsociable, teaches him herself in London 14

  trip to St Moritz 14

  trips to Oxford and Wales 23

  worries over Alan’s school options, Alan accepted by Sherborne School 26–7

  proud of Alan’s progress 54

&n
bsp; writes to Mrs Morcom after death of Christopher 62, 65, 67

  visits Mrs Morcom in London 63

  holidays in Donegal 69

  meets Alan at Waterloo Station 74

  fruit-flies escape and infest house at Guildford 87

  Alan asks her for teddy bear 114

  sees Alan off at Southampton 147

  pilgrimage to Palestine 166

  relationship with Alan 192–3

  visits Alan 303

  Christmas 337

  death of Julius 465

  Alan reveals to her his sexuality 584

  Alan visits for Christmas 615, 641

  death of Alan 615–16, 619

  cremation of Alan 665

  writes Alan’s biography 667–70, 674

  Turing, Fanny (née Boyd) (grandmother) 4, 5

  Turing, Harvey (uncle) 4

  Turing, Jean see Trustram Eve, Jean

  Turing, John (17th-Century baronet) 3

  Turing, John (brother) 17, 43, 302

  birth 8

  sent to Hazelhurst school in Kent 10

  frustrated over responsibility for Alan 12–13

  holiday in Ullapool, Scotland 14

  returns to Hazelhurst 14

  trip to St Moritz 14

  attends Marlborough school 15

  moves to Watton-at-Stone, Hertfordshire 20

  trip to Rouen, France 20

  spends Christmas in Dinard 25

  urges parents not to send Alan to Marlborough 26

  pursues career as solicitor 33

  proud of Alan’s progress 54

  holidays in Donegal 69

  meets Alan at Waterloo Station 74

  marries 145

  asked by Alan to tell mother about his sexuality 584

  death of Alan 615, 618–19

  cremation of Alan 665

  Turing, John Robert (grandfather) 4, 465, 615

  Turing, Julius Mathison (father)

  birth 5

  graduates from Corpus Christi College, Oxford 5

  joins Indian Civil Service, serves as Assistant Collector and Magistrate 5–6

  promoted to Head Assistant Collector 6

  meets Ethel 6, 7

  takes Pacific route back to England from India 7

  marries Ethel in Dublin 7

  returns to India 8

  birth of John 8

  conception of Alan 8

  returns to England, birth of Alan 8–9

  returns to India, Alan and John sent to live with the Wards in St Leonards 9

  braves U-boats to return to England, holidays in Scottish Highlands 10

  decides to separate from Ethel for three years for sake of children 10

  returns to India 10

  returns to England, holiday in Ullapool, Scotland 14

  transferred Madras to serve in Revenue Department 14

  appointed Secretary to the Madras Government Development Department 14

  trip to St Moritz 14

  resigns from Indian Civil Service, lives as tax exile in Dinard, France 20

 

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