Turing Chapters 7 & 8

       In reading The Enigma, I have tried to relate Alan Turing and the virtues of a scientist as much as possible.  I have looked for traits in Turing that resonate with those of an exemplary scientist, and I can definitely see some characteristics that we have seen in Einstein/McClintock/Feynman.  Turing's ability to collaborate, for example, fits the list of virtues that we saw in class.  Yet, Turing's curiosity seems to stem from something other than a pure wonder at nature and its processes.  In chapter 7, Hodges comments, "The prehistoric paintings rather suited Alan, who always wanted to draw nature from scratch himself" (p. 396).  This seems almost opposite to what a scientist would want, and it hints more at Turing's mathematical mindset than his scientific mindset.  In fact, an exemplary scientist has a passion to figure out the laws of nature, and to establish new knowledge about nature.  In the least, Turing's biography has served to show how practices outside of science can adapt the scientific virtues in order to achieve their own telos.
      The boy-man dichotomy that made up Turing's personality throughout his life may at first seem like a defect.  However, it is this wavering between what Hodges calls "forcefulness and naivete" that may have been beneficial in Turing's professional life.  As a class, we have discussed how both confidence and a childish disposition can be traits of an exemplary scientist.  For Turing, it is his confidence in his knowledge that allowed him to push ideas in spite of his struggles, and it is his childlike nature that fueled his passion for his work.  Even for a mathematician, these qualities can be highly valuable.