The Man Who Knew Too Much - David Leavitt

it borrows too heavily from other works to ever really become the unique and accessible biography it aims to be

Book Review by Keir Hind | 13 Sep 2006
Alan Turing (1912-1954) was an outstanding mathematician, a wartime codebreaker and father of computing science. He was also gay, which was illegal in his lifetime and led to his arrest, forced hormone therapy and subsequent suicide. Turing's personal life is a compelling and tragic story in its own right, but this biography focuses on his scientific achievements. A fellow at Cambridge by the age of 22, he devised a mathematical proof at 23 using (what are now called) 'Turing machines', theoretical computing devices still central to computing theory. During wartime he was instrumental in breaking important axis codes. The machines he designed to do this led to computing work in his later career. He later came up with the 'Turing test' to evaluate whether computers can think.

Leavitt heavily quotes from Turing's work, and from his other biographers, often to great effect. However, he overuses other material - for example, he describes the events surrounding Turing's prosecution for homosexuality by referencing an (unifinished) short story Turing wrote about it, which ends up overshadowing the known facts of the situation. This work is readable enough, but – even in the title - it borrows too heavily from other works to ever really become the unique and accessible biography it aims to be. [Keir Hind]
The Man Who Knew Too Much' is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Out Now. Cover Price £16.99.