Jonathan Swinton on Alan Turing’s Manchester at Blackwell’s

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor

Visit now

Jonathan Swinton - Alan Turing's Manchester

26 November 2019

Always double check opening hours with the venue before making a special visit.

Author Jonathan Swinton.
Author Jonathan Swinton.
Book now

Join author and mathematician Jonathan Swinton at Blackwell’s University Green as he talks about his non-fiction book Alan Turing’s Manchester, which explores the period of the famous codebreaker and computer expert’s life when he worked at the University of Manchester. Covering the years between 1948 and Turing’s death in 1954, the book follows him from the University seminar rooms to the pick-up sites of Oxford Road, notably the Regal Cinema (now the Dancehouse Theatre), where Turing met the young man who would ultimately lead to his downfall in an era when homosexuality was illegal.

Having posthumously received an official Government apology in 2009 from the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Turing is now largely recognised as a modern martyr, recently voted the most important person of the 20th century in a BBC poll and with a mural at the culmination of the M56 and a statue in Sackville Park.

Swinton – who has written numerous papers on Alan Turing’s work on Fibonacci patterns and in 2012 conceived the international citizen science project Turing’s Sunflowers – will talk about his research into this great scientist and Mancunian icon. He says: ‘I slip in some of the mathematics, computing and biology that brought me to Turing in the first place, so there’s artificial life here. But real life too.’

Where to go near Jonathan Swinton on Alan Turing’s Manchester at Blackwell’s

Manchester Museum Tours at Manchester Museum
Manchester
Museum
Manchester Museum

The Manchester Museum isn’t one of the UK’s leading university museums for nothing – it has six million objects in its stores, including a full size T-Rex skeleton, and that’s just for starters.

The Manchester Museum on Oxford Road Manchester
Manchester
Gallery
The Study
at Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum opened The Study on 11 September 2015. A reworking of the entire top floor of its historic Grade II*-listed building, The Study has been reimagined as a space designed to spark wonder, curiosity and a passion for research in all of its visitors.

Utility Gift Shop
Manchester
Shop
Utility Gift Shop

Utility Gift Shop on Oxford Road is all about products that are new, unique, quirky and cool. High street shopping at its best.

Manchester
Restaurant
San Carlo Fumo

San Carlo Fumo is a sun trap on St Peter’s Square, serving up traditional Italian food at its best

Manchester
Bar or Pub
Kro Bar

Kro Bar, Manchester is an independent pub and music venue housed (somewhat ironically) in the former Temperance Society building.

Universally Manchester Festival 6-9 June 2024
Manchester
The University of Manchester

Celebrating its 200th year in 2024, The University of Manchester is the largest single-site university in the UK, and boasts come incredible cultural institutions, found on campus, across Manchester and…

What's on: Literature

LiteratureLancashire
Litfest 2026

One of the oldest literature festivals in the country, Litfest returns to Lancaster with a programme focused on the rights of the natural world.

From £3.00

Culture Guides

Ceramic Sculpture
Exhibitions

Across Manchester and Salford, exhibitions are thinking hard about how things are made – and how materials carry stories.

A pair of white angel wings displayed against a dark, black background. The lower parts of the wings are stained with vivid red, resembling blood splatter.
Theatre

This month’s theatre highlights span dystopian classics, political thrillers and bold new opera.

Music

From underground festivals showcasing emerging talent to global icons unveiling new work, here are our latest live music highlights.

Food and Drink in the North

Spring is coming, at some point. As for now, it’s cold and grim so take our advice and shelter in a nice warm restaurant, pub or bar.

Emily Lloyd-Saini as Grace in Space and Harrie Hayes as Lieutenant Strong in Horrible Science
Family things to do in the North

Whether you’re after storybook theatre, museum wanderings or illusion-bending play spaces, there’s plenty to keep curiosity ticking through winter and beyond.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
Cinema in the North

There's no shortage of great films out at the moment, whether you're looking for the latest blockbuster, that hot arthouse flick fresh from Cannes or a cosy classic.