BIOGRAPHY
ALAN TURING was more than a man who helped to crack the Enigma code. He was a leading participant in the whole of wartime code-breaking. He made five major advances in the field of cryptanalysis, including specifying the bombe, an electromechanical device used to crack and decipher Enigma codes and signals sent out by the Germans. As well as this, he wrote two papers about code-breaking from a mathematical approach and viewpoint; as a mathematician himself, this shouldn't have been too difficult. These became such important documents to the Code and Cypher School (though later known as the Government Communications Headquarters) that they waited until April 2012 to release them to the National Archives of the United Kingdom.
Not only was Turing a brilliant mathematician and engineer, but he was gay. Unfortunately, up until the late 20th to 21st century, homosexuality was illegal in the United Kingdom. He was admitted to the police, charged with indecency. Turing was then forced to choose either imprisonment or temporary probation on the condition that he receive hormonal treatment for libido reduction. He chose not to be imprisoned, but his treatment lead to his suicide just before his 32nd birthday on June 7th, 1954.
Not only was Turing a brilliant mathematician and engineer, but he was gay. Unfortunately, up until the late 20th to 21st century, homosexuality was illegal in the United Kingdom. He was admitted to the police, charged with indecency. Turing was then forced to choose either imprisonment or temporary probation on the condition that he receive hormonal treatment for libido reduction. He chose not to be imprisoned, but his treatment lead to his suicide just before his 32nd birthday on June 7th, 1954.
A UNIVERSAL MACHINE
WHILE JOHN ATANASOFF is considered the grandfather of the computer, Alan Turing is considered its father. Turing was the first to invent the digital, programmable computer. He saw the practicality for implementation in electronics. His design was having nothing to do with numbers, but with the logical manipulation of symbols of any kind: a sort of universal machine.
Turing came from codebreaking, had taught himself electronics and organized an electronic cryptographic project, so his mind was sharp, as were his skills. He had been working in a place where simple machines were organized to do different tasks. He could now see how they could all be replaced by one machine.
However, Turing did not create the first electronic computer; he lost that race, but still created the first universal machine that translated and worked with any symbols. Perhaps he didn't create the modern computer, but in many minds, he truly is the father of the computer.
Turing came from codebreaking, had taught himself electronics and organized an electronic cryptographic project, so his mind was sharp, as were his skills. He had been working in a place where simple machines were organized to do different tasks. He could now see how they could all be replaced by one machine.
However, Turing did not create the first electronic computer; he lost that race, but still created the first universal machine that translated and worked with any symbols. Perhaps he didn't create the modern computer, but in many minds, he truly is the father of the computer.
LASTING STORIES
SINCE THE COMPLETION of his computer, Turing has been written about numerous times, the most notable being in the book Alan Turing: The Enigma, written by Andrew Hodges in 1983. This then inspired the award-winning film The Imitation Game, released in 2014, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing.