Washington, DC – Alan Turing: His Work and Impact, was selected for the top honor, R.R. Hawkins Award, at the 38th annual PROSE Awards. Celebrating the centenary of his birth, the bookwas praised as a fitting tribute to the life of the legendary mathematical and scientific genius, considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. Initiated and published by Elsevier, it was editedby S. Barry Cooper, of University of Leeds, UK, and Jan van Leeuwen, of Utrecht University, the Netherlands.
In this accessible new selection of writings by Information Age pioneer Alan Turing, readers find many of the most significant contributions from the four-volume set of the Collected Works of A. M. Turing. These contributions, together with commentaries from current experts in a wide spectrum of fields and backgrounds, provide insight on the significance and contemporary impact of A.M. Turing’s work.
“Alan Turing is considered the founder of computer science, having developed in 1936 the ‘Turing Machine,’ which became the foundation for the modern computer. With that in mind, the book was published to show the value and impact that Turing’s work has even today,” said Laura Colantoni, Vice President of Publishing for Science & Technology Books at Elsevier. “We are so pleased that the book received the prestigious Hawkins Award and that the tremendous efforts of editors Barry Cooper and Jan van Leeuwen are being honored.”
Offering a more modern perspective than anything currently available, Alan Turing: His Work and Impact gives wide coverage of the many ways in which Turing’s scientific endeavors have impacted current research and understanding of the world. His pivotal writings on subjects including computing, artificial intelligence, cryptography, morphogenesis, and more display continued relevance and insight into today’s scientific and technological landscape. This collection provides a great service to researchers, but is also an approachable entry point for readers with limited training in the science, but an urge to learn more about the details of Turing’s work.
“This remarkable volume contains a selection of more than two dozen of Turing’s most important writings, lectures and broadcasts from 1936 to 1954 and extensive commentaries from researchers and practitioners whose intellectual and personal lives Turing’s persona and work have influenced profoundly,” explained Myer Kutz, Myer Kutz Associates, and Mathematics Judge for PROSE. “The breadth of Turing’s interests is astonishing. The products of this unique mind are made accessible to both specialists and general readers by this touching and learned book — a fitting recipient of 2013 R.R. Hawkins Award.”
The PROSE Awards, considered the most prestigious competition in professional and scholarly publishing, were presented at the PSP Annual Conference in Washington DC. For the sixth year in a row, the PROSE program attracted a record-breaking number of submissions: 535 entries of books, reference works, journals and electronic products in more than 40 categories. Entries were submitted from publishers in the PSP, Trade and Education sectors. The 14 judges included peer publishers, librarians and academics.
This year, for the first time in its history, the Hawkins prize authors will receive a cash award of $10,000 endowed by the Association of American Publishers’ Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division (AAP/PSP).