The Imitation Game: Alan Turing Decoded

by Jim Ottaviani, Leland Purvis (Illustrator)

Overview

Alan Turing (1912–1954) was the mathematician credited with cracking the German Enigma code during World War II, enabling the Allies to defeat the Nazis. After the war, Turing went on to launch modern computer science through his creation of the universal Turing machine and the Imitation Game, an artificial-intelligence test that is still in use today. Turing kept his code-breaking work a secret in order to safeguard his native England, but failed to hide his sexual preferences, which led to his tragic death at the hands of the same country he worked so hard to protect. Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis show Turing to be an eccentric, persecuted genius and a groundbreaking theoretician whose seminal work still plays a role in the science and telecommunication systems that fuel our modern world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419736452
Publisher:	Abrams ComicArts
Publication date:	07/09/2019
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	407,751
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Jim Ottaviani is the author of three New York Times bestsellers and the recipient of multiple Ignatz and Eisner Award nominations. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Leland Purvis is an Eisner and Ignatz Award nominee and an occasional reviewer for the Comics Journal. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

02/01/2016
A powerful, sympathetic portrait of one of the 20th century’s great minds, this graphic biography of Alan Turing doesn’t play the usual game of establishing its hero as the only smart person in the room. Here, the great brain of Bletchley Park was just one of many odd geniuses (albeit possibly the most innovative) who helped crack the Nazis’ seemingly unbreakable Enigma code machine. Writer Ottaviani (Feynman) threads the particulars of Turing’s life, from school to top-secret wartime cryptography to postwar scandal. But the book’s thought-provoking core is Turing’s pursuit of his groundbreaking idea of the universal computer and using his imitation game (a method of telling artificial intelligence from the real thing) to plumb the corners of his own personality. Purvis’s sometimes-clunky art suggests a more juvenile volume than is actually delivered in this fully three-dimensional portrait of a man whose contributions—to the modern world as well as the war—was only recognized long after his tragic disgrace. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Ottaviani and Purvis’ new graphic biography looks utterly fascinating.

Forbidden Planet International Blog

05/15/2016
The secret that earned Alan Turing (1912–54) an Order of the British Empire—that his cryptographic assistance shortened World War II by years—couldn't be revealed during his lifetime. But the secret that brought his tragic disgrace—his homosexuality—he naïvely admitted to the British police, and it was publicized widely by the press. Ottaviani's (Feynman) three-dimensional portrait departs from the similarly titled film in painting Turing as a brilliantly eccentric yet social fellow, with friends and pastimes. His so-called "imitation game" turned on whether a man can be taken for a woman or vice versa—and whether a machine can be taken for a human. Voice-overs supply viewpoints from Turing himself and people who knew him, providing both technical and lay accounts of his accomplishments in mathematics, code breaking, and artificial intelligence. Purvis (Suspended in Language) excels with the numerous characters in a basic yet approachable style, depicting Turing's youth in lighter watercolorlike tones and his adulthood with more intense hues. VERDICT Those drawn to Turing's story through the movie as well as others curious about the history of computing will find this nuanced treatment compelling.—MCThe secret that earned Alan Turing (1912–54) an Order of the British Empire—that his cryptographic assistance shortened World War II by years—couldn't be revealed during his lifetime. But the secret that brought his tragic disgrace—his homosexuality—he naïvely admitted to the British police, and it was publicized widely by the press. Ottaviani's (Feynman) three-dimensional portrait departs from the similarly titled film in painting Turing as a brilliantly eccentric yet social fellow, with friends and pastimes. His so-called "imitation game" turned on whether a man can be taken for a woman or vice versa—and whether a machine can be taken for a human. Voice-overs supply viewpoints from Turing himself and people who knew him, providing both technical and lay accounts of his accomplishments in mathematics, code breaking, and artificial intelligence. Purvis (Suspended in Language) excels with the numerous characters in a basic yet approachable style, depicting Turing's youth in lighter watercolorlike tones and his adulthood with more intense hues. VERDICT Those drawn to Turing's story through the movie as well as others curious about the history of computing will find this nuanced treatment compelling.—MC

Library Journal

10/01/2016
Much like he did in Feynman (SLJ's Best Adult Books 4 Teens title of 2011), Ottaviani delivers a substantial introduction of Alan Turing. Different parts of his life are introduced by family, friends, and colleagues who are being questioned by an unseen interrogator. These panels are in soft black-and-white, with the interviewer's words in pink boxes; the main action is depicted in full color, with Turing's own commentary in yellow. This structure may be initially confusing but works well once decoded. Starting with Turing's troubles at school—untidiness and a lack of desire for much beyond advanced mathematics—the book moves through his days at Cambridge, Princeton, and then code breaking at Bletchley Park. After World War II, Turing tried to find an academic home but was arrested in 1952 for homosexuality, forced to undergo hormone treatments, and committed suicide. Readers will be shocked to learn how homosexuality was a punishable crime in England and how secret his war work had to be for the rest of his life. This secrecy is played for comic effect in a job interview but is shown to be devastating at his trial, as character witnesses were unable to say anything about how many lives were saved due to Turing's efforts. Readers may not fully understand the explanations of Turing's mathematics and its applications, but they'll be in good company—most of the people to whom he explains his thought process in the book are equally confused, emphasizing how ahead of his time he was. VERDICT An excellent introduction to a long overlooked genius; a wonderful addition to graphic novel and biography collections.—Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington Public Library

School Library Journal