A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines.A MADMAN DREAMS OF TURING MACHINES JANNA LEVIN Janna J. Levin (born 1967) is a theoretical cosmologist. She holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology granted in 1993 and a Bachelor of Arts in Astronomy and Physics from Barnard College granted in 1988. [1]. In this novel, Levin, an astrophysicist at Columbia University Columbia University, mainly in New York City; founded 1754 as King's College by grant of King George II; first college in New York City, fifth oldest in the United States; one of the eight Ivy League institutions. , weaves a tale of the lives of her two favorite mathematicians, Kurt Godel Noun 1. Kurt Godel - United States mathematician (born in Austria) who is remembered principally for demonstrating the limitations of axiomatic systems (1906-1978) Godel and Alan Turing (person) Alan Turing - Alan M. Turing, 1912-06-22/3? - 1954-06-07. A British mathematician, inventor of the Turing Machine. Turing also proposed the Turing test. Turing's work was fundamental in the theoretical foundations of computer science. . She outlines the early 20th-century youths of the men--Turing in England and Godel in Vienna--in parallel narratives that reveal their personalities as Levin imagines them. Godel, as she portrays him, is a taciturn tac·i·turn adj. Habitually untalkative. See Synonyms at silent. [French taciturne, from Old French, from Latin taciturnus, from tacitus, silent; see tacit. intellectual "a man who speaks only when spoken to and then only about mathematics," whose delusions and paranoia eventually drive him to madness. Turing is also a tormented figure, whose homosexuality makes him an outcast despite his genius. He spends his days asking, "Where is God in 1+1 = 2?" and questioning his faith. He eventually marries a woman and ponders the intelligence of machines. The two men's narratives eventually intersect. Levin's story will appeal to fans of math history who seek an imaginative perspective on the lives of two of its most interesting characters. Knopf, 2006, 230 p., hardcover, $23.95. |
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