Alan Turing Mini Biography

ALAN TURING "FATHER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, MATHEMATICIAN, LOGICIAN, WARTIME CODEBREAKER, VICTIM OF PREJUDICE" - THE ALAN TURING MEMORIAL, MANCHESTER UK. 1912 - O 1954 INVENTIONS, THEORIES AND CREATIONS Alan Turing in 1928. Sherborne School, via Agence France-Presse Photography -Elliott Brown Getty Images - 1936 Turing develops hypothetical devices known as Turing Machines' which essentially paved the way for modern computers. 1945 Works on ACE - Automatic Computing Engine, offering the first detailed design of a stored program computer. 1948 Invents the LU decomposition method - still used today for solving matrix equations. Also begins exploring artificial intelligence and creates the Turing Test to find a standard in which a machine could be named as intelligent. Enigma Machines Bletchley Park - Block B Photography - Elliott Brown MATHEMATICS WARTIME 1939 - 1945 Turing co-develops The Bombe', creates a sequential statistical technique called 'Banburismus', and develops a new technique called Turingery' to counter German Lorenz Cipher messages. BANBURISMUS Between these and other code breaking activities and inventions discovered whilst working at Bletchley Park, Turing manages to crack an essential part of the Enigma machine and attack German naval enigma enciphered messages, playing a huge part in the Allied victory of World War II. x+y = z SCIENCE He did this because (in his words), "no one else was doing anything about it and I could have it to myself". It's believed by some that at minimum, Turing reduced the length of the war by two years, saving many lives in the process. PERSONAL BELIEFS Turing was an atheist. His religious faith was shattered by the loss of a close friend early in life. Turing is often considered a little eccentric. While at Bletchley Park he would chain his mug to radiator pipes to stop it from being stolen, cycle to work in a gas mask during summer months when pollen was high, and However, he still held the belief that on occasion, run the 40 miles to London when needed for high-level meetings! spirits survived after death... CONVICTION In 1952 while reporting a burglary to police, Turing admits a sexual relationship with a man, which was illegal in the United Kingdom at the time! This discriminatory anti-homosexuality law meant that Turing was convicted of 'gross indecency' to which he had to plead guilty. With few options available, Turing underwent the humiliating process of Chemical Castration to avoid imprisonment for essentially exercising his human right to love whomever he wanted. PARDON Many feel a personal outrage that Turing was punished so severely (or at all) despite all of the ground-breaking developments he made - a national hero who was stripped of his respectability and severed from a key part of his identity. After a signed petition was put forward in 2009, then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, released a statement apologising for the treatment of Turing, describing it as appalling. In December 2013 Turing received a royal pardon for his conviction... However, whilst Turing received the pardon because of his fame, there were countless other men convicted under the same law who have not been pardoned. There is also a question as to whether he should receive a pardon for something that shouldn't have been a conviction in the first place. SUICIDE THEORY DEATH Turing's interest in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs supports the inquest's suicide ruling because of his apparent fascination with the ambiguity of the apple and the poison dipping scene. Turing's death was ruled a suicide by cyanide poisoning. However, gaps in the investigation have led to speculation, especially as the assumed means of Turing's death, a poisoned apple, was never tested for cyanide. With the discovery of a half-eaten apple beside his bed, many speculate that he was re-enacting a scene from Snow White, resorting to a "desperate measure" after his mistreatment. ACCIDENTAL THEORY RIP MURDER THEORY There's is nothing like a potential threat to national security to arouse speculation of a security services murder! After Turing's conviction, his security clearance was revoked and he was not permitted to continue consulting on cryptanalysis because "he was regarded as a high security risk". Many accept Turing's death as a tragic result of persecution - others, including Turing's mother, believe his death to be accidental. Despite his conviction and hormonal treatment, Turing was reported to be in good spirits! Furthermore, he left a list of tasks for the following week, and to contradict the Snow White theories, he habitually ate an apple without finishing it before bed-all repudiating the tidy verdict of suicide. While this theory is considered unlikely, some believe that it should still be considered as a possible cause of death... This is further supported by Turing's messy workroom filled with chemicals he could have easily inhaled. Professor Jack Copeland suggests the autopsy findings were more consistent with inhalation than ingestion of the poison, strongly indicating that his death was accidental! The coroner declared that, "In a man of his type, one never knows what his mental processes are going to do next." While it is unclear what he meant by "his type", discriminatory thinking could well have ruled out an accurate post-mortem ruling. TRIBUTES TC Alan Turing Memorial Turing is much loved all over the world, especially of course in the UK, where he is particularly heralded in the city of Manchester with various tributes to his name. Seckville Gardens, Manchester Photography - Bernt Rostad MANCHESTER The Sackville Park Alan Turing statue depicts him sat holding an apple, which is an interesting incorporation as classically it represents hidden knowledge, it is the object that inspired Newton's theory of gravity and it was the alleged means of Turing's suicide. UNIVERSITY O ALAN MATHISON TURING 1912-1954 commemorates A Creator of Computer Code Breaker and Mathe c "We can only see a short distance ahead, but we Reader in Mathematics 1948-1954 can see plenty there that needs to be done." - Alan M. Turing Commemorative Plaque University of Manchester Photography - Diane Griffiths A tribute by Jurys Inn, Manchester DRINCERY OMBE