New Alan Turing notebook shows code breaking was a 'hobby on the side'

A notebook newly displayed at Bletchey Park reveals Turing spent spare time on his own work while still deciphering German codes.

“This notebook is all about the challenges that he saw in the way that we write down mathematical formulas,” said Sir Dermot.

“He felt very uncomfortable, he thought it was untidy the way we did things.”

The 39-page book was privately bought last year for $1,000,000 and is on loan to Bletchley Park.

Dr David Kenyon, a research historian at Bletchley Park, said, “While code breaking is absolutely vital for World War Two and one of the most serious undertakings of the British government at the time, Turing is thinking about something else a lot of the time.

“The code breaking is a side-issue almost for him because the level of his genius is such that his head is full of all sorts of other things that [the rest of us wouldn’t] understand.”