Adams-Sweeting Lecture by Sir Dermot Turing
Join award winning author Sir Dermot Turing, to hear his talk "The real Enigma expert: Alan Turing or Henryk Zygalski?"
There will be a complimentary pre-event drinks reception from 5.15pm in the Rik Medlik foyer. The Lecture will begin at 6pm and will include an opportunity for a Q&A after the keynote.
The solution of the famous Enigma machine cipher by Bletchley Park’s codebreakers, notably Alan Turing, is a source of pride for Britain. But how did they achieve their breakthrough in 1939– from knowing next to nothing about the Enigma machine, to designing an electro-mechanical device to identify which setting (out of 158 quintillion possibilities) was in use each day – in only 3 months? Who was Henryk Zygalski, what was his role in the Enigma puzzle, and what was his connection to Guildford?
About Sir Dermot Turing
Dermot Turing is the award-winning author of X, Y and Z – the real story of how Enigma was broken and Enigma Traitors, which reveals the failings of Allied cipher security during World War II. His most recent book is Misread Signals – how History Overlooked Women Codebreakers, which was published in August 2025.
His other books cover subjects such as his famous uncle Alan Turing, codebreaking and computing history. He began writing in 2014 after a career in law, principally at the international law firm Clifford Chance. As well as writing and speaking, Dermot is a trustee of the National Museum of Computing and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford.
About the Adams-Sweeting Lecture Series
The Adams-Sweeting Lecture series was created in honour of two of the University of Surrey’s most prestigious academics – Emeritus Professor of Physics, Alf Adams and Distinguished Chair of Space Engineering, Sir Martin Sweeting. The lecture sees experts, innovators and scientists deliver fascinating talks on pioneering developments in their area of expertise.
Feed your intrigue, expand your mind and join us to learn about the innovations shaping the world.