Racy short story by Alan Turing offers glimpse of ‘playful, funny, cheeky’ side
A Cambridge professor has discovered a short story written by Alan Turing that reveals a more playful and literary side to the mathematician. The discovery challenges the common perception of Turing as an isolated figure and highlights his personal life following his 1952 arrest.
Why it matters
It provides a more nuanced historical understanding of a pivotal figure in computing and LGBTQ+ history.
Prof Sarah Dillon with the Alan Turing short story. Photograph: King’s College/Cambridge Prof Sarah Dillon with the Alan Turing short story. Photograph: King’s College/Cambridge Alan Turing Racy short story by Alan Turing offers glimpse of ‘playful, funny, cheeky’ side Writing from year after gross indecency arrest challenges ‘isolated mathematician’ image, says Cambridge academic
Prefer the Guardian on Google When people think of Alan Turing , they might imagine he was arrogant, isolated, humourless, tortured. A better way of remembering the father of modern computing would be, an academic argues, as “playful, funny, cheeky, literary, and someone who really liked sex”.
The Cambridge University English literature professor Sarah Dillon has transcribed and studied a little-known short story that Turing wrote in the year after his arrest in Manchester for gross indecency.
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