about the book
Brit Alan Turing did not do well in school. He was academically sloppy, personally untidy, socially graceless, and not interested in anything other than mathematics. But he went on to become an Olympic runner and a ground-breaking theoretician who saved countless lives during World War II by accelerating the Allied defeat of the Nazis. His work is still influencing the fields of cryptography, computer science, and artificial intelligence 63 years after his demise.
This graphic novel biography is told through multiple voices, often unidentified, weaving in and out. The narrators include Turing himself, his mother, and several of his colleagues and friends as they are being interviewed by an unseen interrogator. Readers will enjoy uncovering the clues that eventually bring together a clear picture of Turing’s life. Those interested in computers will appreciate the logic and algorithms explained along the way. Those interested in LBGTQ rights will find the history of social issues fascinating.
The book starts with Turing’s adolescence and his years at Cambridge and Princeton. It tells how he was recruited for the Bletchley Park team during WWII. These top geniuses were gathered to break the seemingly insurmountable Nazi Enigma code machine. It changed codes daily, making it impossible to decipher secret Nazi messages, troop orders, and battle plans. Turing was convinced a computer was necessary to mathematically figure out the codes within the short 24-hour time frame. But at that time computers were just a theoretical idea.
Misunderstood by his peers and unwilling to cooperate, he did not play well with others. Right from the start, he was at odds with project officials and fellow scientists. He knew the only solution was building a computer, and they thought it was his pipe dream. Even if it could be built, they said it wouldn’t work.
Determined and unstoppable, Turing and a few others tackled the work of creating the very first stored-memory “Universal Machine” on their own, and amazingly, the computer worked! Turing was far ahead of his time.
Even with all this success, this eccentric genius came to a miserable and untimely end. This is the tragic story of one of the 20th century’s most unsung heroes.
about the author
The library at the University of Michigan has a special institutional repository called Deep Blue. It is run by Jim Ottaviani, a thoughtful, friendly guy, who is very helpful in getting the sources you may need for your research. You see, Jim really likes research. It is one of his favorite aspects of being a comic and graphic novel writer.
This Ann Arbor resident didn’t start out as a librarian though. Jim earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Illinois and went on to get a master’s in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan. For several years, he worked at retrofitting and fixing nuclear power plants. The job involved a lot of traveling, which he didn’t enjoy. Intrigued by the research his job required, Jim took a couple of library science courses at Drexel University and then earned a master’s degree in information and library studies from the University of Michigan.
Jim has written several award-winning science-related graphic novels. You might be surprised to learn that a 200-page novel means that Jim has written an 800-page script! Jim self-publishes his work through his publishing business, GT Labs.
Sources:
Author biography: Wikipedia
Author spotlight: Heritage
Author interview: Ann Arbor News
Also by Jim Ottaviani:
Primates : The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas. First Second. 2013.
Feynman. First Second. 2011.
T-Minus : The Race to the MoonLevitation : Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception. GT Labs. 2007.
Wire Mothers : Harry Harlow and the Science of Love. GT Labs. 2007.
Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards. GT Labs. 2005.
Suspended in Language : Niels Bohr’s Life, Discoveries, and the Century He Shaped. GT Labs. 2004.
Dignifying Science : Stories about Women Scientists. GT Labs. 2003.
Fallout : J. Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, and The Political Science of the Atomic Bomb. GT Labs. 2001.
Two-Fisted Science. GT Labs. 2001.
about the illustrator
Leland Purvis is a writer, an artist, and a craftsman. He is also a comic reviewer and an opinionated essay writer…a very, very sharply opinionated reviewer! His thoughts can be seen often in The Comics Journal. Thankfully he has learned to avoid fisticuffs over his opinions. He finds that blows have a tendency to get in the way of good stories, art, and amiable social drinking.
As a self-taught artist and writer, he admits his many deficiencies are entirely his own. Leland uses graphite and various paint pigments on paper, creating pictures that tell stories. Recently he has been focusing on graphic novels, in particular historical fiction books which are aimed at younger readers.
He is an Eisner Award winner and an Ignatz nominee. Purvis also received a Xeric Grant for his self-published comic anthology, VÓX, and critical acclaim for PUBO, a creator-owned series. He is a founding member of Drawbridge Studios and of the ACT-I-VATE webcomics collective.
Purvis lives in Oregon with his wife and daughter. When he isn’t writing and illustrating books, he is making handmade volumes and stitching his own perfect leather satchels. Check out his latest projects and some of his fun sketches.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator blog
Also by Purvis Leland:
Resistance : Book 3 : Victory with Carla Jablonski. First Second. 2012.
Resistance : Book 2 : Defiance with Carla Jablonski. First Second. 2011.
Resistance : Book 1 with Carla Jablonski. First Second. 2010.
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Judd Winick and Pedro Zamora were cast members of MTV’s The Real World 3: San Francisco. Winick talks about his relationship with Pedro, his roommate and friend, who died of AIDS in 1994. He discusses his preconceived ideas and how he felt about sharing such close quarters with an infected person. As their friendship solidifies, it explores frank facts about catching the virus, how the disease can be prevented, and the role of death in the human life cycle.
Primates : The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani
These primatologists were all students of the famous Louis Leakey. Jane discovered that chimpanzees use tools; Dian’s work brought attention to the blight of the mountain gorilla; and Birute’s efforts to rehabilitate orphaned orangutans revolutionized rainforest conservation. Their work led to advances in primatology and changed our understanding of what it means to be human.