Alan Turing
(1912-1954)
code-breaker, pioneer of computer science, founder of computer science, cryptographer, creator of computer science, mathematician, and Reader in Mathematics (1948-1954)
Died aged c. 42
Wikidata WikipediaAlan Mathison Turing OBE FRS (/ˈtjʊərɪŋ/; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer. He is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. Born in Maida Vale, London, Turing was raised in southern England. He graduated at King's College, Cambridge, with a degree in mathematics. Whilst he was a fellow at Cambridge, he published a proof demonstrating that some purely mathematical yes–no questions can never be answered by computation and defined a Turing machine, and went on to prove that the halting problem for Turing machines is undecidable. In 1938, he obtained his PhD from the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University. During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre that produced Ultra intelligence. For a time he led Hut 8, the section that was responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. Here, he devised a number of techniques for speeding the breaking of German ciphers, including improvements to the pre-war Polish bomba method, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. Turing played a crucial role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic. After the war, Turing worked at the National Physical Laboratory, where he designed the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE), one of the first designs for a stored-program computer. In 1948, Turing joined Max Newman's Computing Machine Laboratory, at the Victoria University of Manchester, where he helped develop the Manchester computers and became interested in mathematical biology. He wrote a paper on the chemical basis of morphogenesis and predicted oscillating chemical reactions such as the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction, first observed in the 1960s. Despite these accomplishments, Turing was never fully recognised in Britain during his lifetime because much of his work was covered by the Official Secrets Act. Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts. He accepted hormone treatment with DES, a procedure commonly referred to as chemical castration, as an alternative to prison. Turing died on 7 June 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a suicide, but it has been noted that the known evidence is also consistent with accidental poisoning. Following a public campaign in 2009, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an on behalf of the British government for "the appalling way [Turing] was treated". Queen Elizabeth II granted a posthumous pardon in 2013. The term "Alan Turing law" is now used informally to refer to a 2017 law in the United Kingdom that retroactively pardoned men cautioned or convicted under historical legislation that outlawed homosexual acts. Turing has an extensive legacy with statues of him and many things named after him, including an annual award for computer science innovations. He appears on the current Bank of England £50 note, which was released on 23 June 2021, to coincide with his birthday. A 2019 BBC series, as voted by the audience, named him the greatest person of the 20th century.
DbPedia
designer of The Bombe
Commemorated on 14 plaques
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Alan Turing 1912-1954 code-breaker and pioneer of computer science was born here
2 Warrington Cresent, Maida Vale, Westminster, W9, London, United Kingdom where they was born (1912)
Alan Turing 1912-1954 code breaker lived here from 1945-1947
78 High Street, Hampton, London, United Kingdom where they lived
Alan Turing 1912-1954 founder of computer science and cryptographer, whose work was key to breaking the wartime Enigma codes, lived and died here.
43 Adlington Road, Wilmslow, United Kingdom where they lived and died (1954)
The family home of Alan M. Turing (1912-1954) founder of computer science
22 Ennismore Avenue, Guildford, United Kingdom where they lived
Engineering Heritage Award The Bombe Bletchley Park Completed in 2007 using the original blueprints. An electromechanical device designed by A Turing, G Welchman and H Keen, used in cracking the German Enigma code during the Second World War. The 200 Bombes built by the British Tabulating Machine Company played a pivotal role in winning the war.
Block B - Bletchley Park , Bletchley, United Kingdom where they designed The Bombe
The Turing Bombe Rebuild Project Presented to John Harper MBCS, Chairman, Turing Bombe Rebuild Project Team, BCS Computer Conservation Society by John L Ivinson FBCS, President. In recognition of the outstanding work undertaken by the team. Presented at the BCS Specialist Groups Assembly, Bletchley Park 9th April 2003
Block B - Bletchley Park, Bletchley, United Kingdom where they originally designed
IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing Code-breaking at Bletchley Park during World War II, 1939-45. On this site during the 1939-45 World War, 12,000 men and women broke the German Lorenz and Enigma ciphers, as well as Japanese and Italian codes and ciphers. They used innovative mathematical analysis and were assisted by two computing machines developed here by teams led by Alan Turing: the electro-mathematical Bombe developed with Gordon Welchman, and the electronic Colossus designed by Tommy Flowers. These achievements greatly shortened the war, thereby saving countless lives.
Bletchley Park House, Bletchley Park, Bletchley, United Kingdom where they code-breaking assisted by two computing machines developed here by teams led by (1939-1945)
Alan Mathison Turing 1912-1954 a creator of computer science, code breaker and mathematician. Reader in Mathematics 1948-1954
Coupland Building 1, Coupland Street, M13 9PL, Manchester, United Kingdom where they was Reader in Mathematics (1948-1954)
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Alan Turing 1912 - 1954 mathematician, computer pioneer and code breaker
St Catherine's College Library - St Catherine's College - Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom where they was
Alan Turing 1912-1954 founder of computer science and cryptographer, whose work was key to breaking the wartime Enigma codes, spent his childhood here.
Baston Lodge, 1 Upper Maze Hill, St Leonards-On-Sea, TN38 0LA, Hastings, United Kingdom where they lived
Alan Mathison Turing 1912-1954 A Creator of Computer Science, Code Breaker and Mathematician Reader in Mathematics 1948-1954
Coupland Street, Manchester, United Kingdom where they was
Alan Turing 1912-1954 code breaker and pioneer of computer science boarded here 1926-1931
Westcott House on Horsecastles, Sherborne, United Kingdom where they was
Alan Turing Code Breaker & Pioneer of Computer Science Love Lived Here 1912-1954
2 Warrington Crescent, London, United Kingdom where they lived (1912-1954)
White Cottage home to Alan Turing, Alan Hinsley, John Tiltman wartime codebreakers 1939-1946
Hanmer Road, Simpson, United Kingdom where they stayed