Bernhardt, C: Turing's Vision

In 1936, when he was just twenty-four years old, Alan Turing wrote a remarkable paper in which he outlined the theory of computation, laying out the ideas that underlie all modern computers. This groundbreaking and powerful theory now forms the basis of computer science. In Turing¿s Vision, Chris Bernhardt explains the theory, Turing¿s most important contribution, for the general reader. Bernhardt argues that the strength of Turing¿s theory is its simplicity, and that, explained in a straightforward manner, it is eminently understandable by the nonspecialist. Bernhardt begins with the foundation and systematically builds to the surprising conclusions. He also views Turing¿s theory in the context of mathematical history, other views of computation (including those of Alonzo Church), Turing¿s later work, and the birth of the modern computer.