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Alan Turing

Born 23 June 1912(1912-06-23)
London, England
Died 7 June 1954 (aged 41)
Wilmslow, Cheshire, England
Residence England
Nationality English
Fields Mathematician, Logician, cryptanalyst
Institutions University of Manchester
National Physical Laboratory
University of Cambridge
Alma mater University of Cambridge
Princeton University
Doctoral advisor Alonzo Church
Known for Halting Problem
Notable awards Order of the British Empire
Fellow of the Royal Society
Religious stance Atheist[1][2]

Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS (pronounced /ˈt(j)ʊ(ə)rɪŋ/) (23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, logician and cryptographer. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) Wilmslow is a town in the Borough of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. Cheshire (or archaically the County of Chester) is a county in North West England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, "hidden" and analýein, "to loosen" or "to untie" is the study of methods for The University of Manchester is a " red brick " civic University located in Manchester, England. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL is the national Measurement standards laboratory for the United Kingdom, based at Bushy Park in Teddington The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement Alonzo Church ( June 14, 1903 – August 11, 1995) was an American Mathematician and logician In computability theory, the halting problem is a Decision problem which can be stated as follows given a description of a program and a finite input The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 Atheism The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics. Logic is the study of the principles of valid demonstration and Inference. Cryptography (or cryptology; from Greek grc κρυπτός kryptos, "hidden secret" and grc γράφω gráphō, "I write"

Turing is often considered to be the father of modern computer science. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Turing provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. In Mathematics, Computing, Linguistics and related subjects an algorithm is a sequence of finite instructions often used for Calculation Turing machines are basic abstract symbol-manipulating devices which despite their simplicity can be adapted to simulate the logic of any Computer Algorithm With the Turing test, he made a significant and characteristically provocative contribution to the debate regarding artificial intelligence: whether it will ever be possible to say that a machine is conscious and can think. The Turing test is a proposal for a test of a Machine 's ability to demonstrate intelligence Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the Thought and thinking are mental forms and Processes respectively ("thought" is both He later worked at the National Physical Laboratory, creating one of the first designs for a stored-program computer, although it was never actually built. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL is the national Measurement standards laboratory for the United Kingdom, based at Bushy Park in Teddington In 1948 he moved to the University of Manchester to work on the Manchester Mark I, then emerging as one of the world's earliest true computers. The Victoria University of Manchester (commonly known as the University of Manchester) was a University in Manchester, England. This article is about the early British computer. The term "Manchester Mark I" can also refer to the Avro Manchester heavy bomber in RAF service during

During the Second World War Turing worked at Bletchley Park, the UK's codebreaking centre, and was for a time head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Bletchley Park, also known as Station X, is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, and (since 1967 part of Milton Keynes Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, "hidden" and analýein, "to loosen" or "to untie" is the study of methods for Hut 8 was a section at Bletchley Park (the British World War II Codebreaking station tasked with solving German naval Enigma messages Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the bombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. In the History of cryptography, the Bombe was an electromechanical device used by British Cryptologists to help break German Enigma The Enigma machine is any one of a family of related electro-mechanical Rotor machines used to generate Ciphers for the Encryption and decryption of

Contents

Childhood and youth

Turing was conceived in Chhatrapur, Orissa, India. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Chhatrapur (also spelt as Chatrapur) is a town and a Notified area committee in Ganjam Orissa (ଓଡ଼ିଶା is a state located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country [3] His father, Julius Mathison Turing, was a member of the Indian Civil Service. The Indian Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym ICS, originated as the elite Civil service of the Indian Government under British colonial Julius and wife Sara (née Stoney; 1881 – 1976, daughter of Edward Waller Stoney, chief engineer of the Madras Railways) wanted Alan to be brought up in England, so they returned to Maida Vale,[4] London, where Alan Turing was born 23 June 1912, as recorded by a blue plaque on the outside of the building, now the Colonnade Hotel. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Maida Vale is a residential district in West London between St John's Wood and Kilburn. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting In the United Kingdom, a blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event The Colonnade Hotel (previously known as The Esplanade hotel) is a 4-star London hotel with 43 rooms of which 3 are suites [5][6] He had an elder brother, John. His father's civil service commission was still active, and during Turing's childhood years his parents travelled between Guildford, England and India, leaving their two sons to stay with friends in England. Guildford ( IPA /ˈgɪlfəd/ is the County town of Surrey, England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the Very early in life, Turing showed signs of the genius he was to display more prominently later. [7]

His parents enrolled him at St Michael's, a day school, at the age of six. The headmistress recognised his genius early on, as did many of his subsequent educators. In 1926, at the age of 14, he went on to Sherborne School in Dorset. Sherborne School is a British Independent school for boys located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast His first day of term coincided with General Strike in England, but so determined was he to attend his first day that he rode his bike unaccompanied more than 60 miles (97 km) from Southampton to school, stopping overnight at an inn. The UK General Strike of 1926 was a General strike that lasted nine days from 3 May 1926 to 12 May 1926. Southampton ( IPA /ˌsaʊθˈhæmptən/ is the largest city in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England [8]

The computer room at King's is now named after Turing, who became a student there in 1931 and a Fellow in 1935
The computer room at King's is now named after Turing, who became a student there in 1931 and a Fellow in 1935

Turing's natural inclination toward mathematics and science did not earn him respect with some of the teachers at Sherborne, a famous and expensive public school, whose definition of education placed more emphasis on the classics. An independent school in the United Kingdom is a school relying upon private sources for all of its funding predominantly in the form of school fees "Classical literature" redirects here For literature in Classical languages outside the Graeco-Roman sphere see Ancient literature. His headmaster wrote to his parents: "I hope he will not fall between two schools. If he is to stay at public school, he must aim at becoming educated. If he is to be solely a Scientific Specialist, he is wasting his time at a public school". [9]

Despite this, Turing continued to show remarkable ability in the studies he loved, solving advanced problems in 1927 without having even studied elementary calculus. Calculus ( Latin, calculus, a small stone used for counting is a branch of Mathematics that includes the study of limits, Derivatives In 1928, aged 16, Turing encountered Albert Einstein's work; not only did he grasp it, but he extrapolated Einstein's questioning of Newton's laws of motion from a text in which this was never made explicit. Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical Newton's laws of motion are three Physical laws which provide relationships between the Forces acting on a body and the motion of the [10]

Turing's hopes and ambitions at school were raised by the close friendship he developed with a slightly older fellow student, Christopher Morcom, who was Turing's first love interest. Morcom died suddenly only a few weeks into their last term at Sherborne, from complications of bovine tuberculosis, contracted after drinking infected cow's milk as a boy. See Tuberculosis Mycobacterium bovis is a slow-growing (16 to 20 hour generation time Aerobic bacterium and the causative [11] Turing's religious faith was shattered and he became an atheist. He adopted the conviction that all phenomena, including the workings of the human brain, must be materialistic. [12]

University and his work on computability

Turing's unwillingness to work as hard on his classical studies as on science and mathematics meant he failed to win a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, and went on to the college of his second choice, King's College, Cambridge. Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. King's College Cambridge is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. He was an undergraduate there from 1931 to 1934, graduating with a distinguished degree, and in 1935 was elected a fellow at King's on the strength of a dissertation on the central limit theorem. The central limit theorem (CLT states that the sum of a sufficiently large number of identically distributed independent Random variables each with finite

In his momentous paper "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem" (submitted on 28 May 1936), Turing reformulated Kurt Gödel's 1931 results on the limits of proof and computation, replacing Gödel's universal arithmetic-based formal language with what are now called Turing machines, formal and simple devices. In Mathematics, the Entscheidungsproblem ( German for ' Decision problem ' is a challenge posed by David Hilbert in 1928 Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Kurt Gödel (kʊɐ̯t ˈgøːdl̩ (April 28 1906 – January 14 1978 was an Austrian American Logician, Mathematician and Philosopher Turing machines are basic abstract symbol-manipulating devices which despite their simplicity can be adapted to simulate the logic of any Computer Algorithm He proved that some such machine would be capable of performing any conceivable mathematical problem if it were representable as an algorithm, even if no actual Turing machine would be likely to have practical applications, being much slower than practically realisable alternatives. In Mathematics, Computing, Linguistics and related subjects an algorithm is a sequence of finite instructions often used for Calculation

Turing machines are to this day the central object of study in theory of computation. Computation is a general term for any type of Information processing. He went on to prove that there was no solution to the Entscheidungsproblem by first showing that the halting problem for Turing machines is undecidable: it is not possible to decide, in general, algorithmically whether a given Turing machine will ever halt. In computability theory, the halting problem is a Decision problem which can be stated as follows given a description of a program and a finite input In Computability theory and Computational complexity theory, a decision problem is a question in some Formal system with a yes-or-no answer depending on While his proof was published subsequent to Alonzo Church's equivalent proof in respect to his lambda calculus, Turing's work is considerably more accessible and intuitive. Alonzo Church ( June 14, 1903 – August 11, 1995) was an American Mathematician and logician In Mathematical logic and Computer science, lambda calculus, also written as λ-calculus, is a Formal system designed to investigate function It was also novel in its notion of a "Universal (Turing) Machine", the idea that such a machine could perform the tasks of any other machine. The paper also introduces the notion of definable numbers. A Real number a is first-order definable in the language of set theory without parameters, if there is a formula φ in the language of Set theory

Most of 1937 and 1938 he spent at Princeton University, studying under Alonzo Church. Princeton University is a private Coeducational research university located in Princeton, New Jersey. Alonzo Church ( June 14, 1903 – August 11, 1995) was an American Mathematician and logician In 1938 he obtained his Ph.D. from Princeton; his dissertation introduced the notion of relative computing where Turing machines are augmented with so-called oracles, allowing a study of problems that cannot be solved by a Turing machine. "PhD" redirects here for other uses see PhD (disambiguation. In complexity theory and computability theory, an oracle machine is an Abstract machine used to study Decision problems It can be visualized

Back in Cambridge in 1939, he attended lectures by Ludwig Wittgenstein about the foundations of mathematics. Foundations of mathematics is a term sometimes used for certain fields of Mathematics, such as Mathematical logic, Axiomatic set theory, Proof theory [13] The two argued and disagreed, with Turing defending formalism and Wittgenstein arguing that mathematics is overvalued and does not discover any absolute truths. The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of Philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions foundations and implications of Mathematics. [14]

Cryptanalysis

Two cottages in the stable yard at Bletchley Park. Turing worked here from 1939 – 1940 until he moved to Hut 8
Two cottages in the stable yard at Bletchley Park. Turing worked here from 1939 – 1940 until he moved to Hut 8

During the Second World War, Turing was a main participant in the efforts at Bletchley Park to break German ciphers. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Bletchley Park, also known as Station X, is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, and (since 1967 part of Milton Keynes Building on cryptanalysis work carried out in Poland by Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski from Cipher Bureau before the war, he contributed several insights into breaking both the Enigma machine and the Lorenz SZ 40/42 (a Teletype cipher attachment codenamed "Tunny" by the British), and was, for a time, head of Hut 8, the section responsible for reading German naval signals. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Marian Adam Rejewski ( 16 August 1905 &ndash 13 February 1980 was a Polish Mathematician and cryptologist who in 1932 solved the Enigma machine Jerzy Witold Różycki (pronounced ['jεʒɨ ru'ʒɨʦki]; Olshana, near Kiev, Ukraine, July 24, 1909 — January Henryk Zygalski ( 1906 - 1978 was a Polish Mathematician and Cryptologist who worked at breaking German Enigma ciphers before and during The Biuro Szyfrów ( Polish for " Cipher Bureau " was the Polish Interwar agency charged with both Cryptography (the The Enigma machine is any one of a family of related electro-mechanical Rotor machines used to generate Ciphers for the Encryption and decryption of "Tunny" redirects here For the fish see Tuna. The Lorenz SZ 40 and SZ 42 ( Schlüsselzusatz, meaning Hut 8 was a section at Bletchley Park (the British World War II Codebreaking station tasked with solving German naval Enigma messages Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Since September 1938, Turing had been working part-time for the Government Code and Cypher School (GCCS), the British code breaking organization. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ is a British Intelligence agency responsible for providing Signals intelligence (SIGINT and Information He worked on the problem of the German Enigma machine, and collaborated with Dilly Knox, a senior GCCS codebreaker. Alfred Dillwyn 'Dilly' Knox ( 23 July 1884 &ndash 27 February 1943) was a British Codebreaker and classical [15] On 4 September 1939, the day after the UK declared war on Germany, Turing reported to Bletchley Park, the wartime station of GCCS. Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [16]

The Turing-Welchman bombe

Replica of a bombe machine
Replica of a bombe machine

Within weeks of arriving at Bletchley Park,[16] Turing had designed an electromechanical machine which could help break Enigma faster than bomba from 1932, the bombe, named after and building upon the original Polish-designed bomba. The Bomba, or Bomba kryptologiczna ( Polish for " Bomb " or " Cryptologic bomb " was a special-purpose In the History of cryptography, the Bombe was an electromechanical device used by British Cryptologists to help break German Enigma The Bomba, or Bomba kryptologiczna ( Polish for " Bomb " or " Cryptologic bomb " was a special-purpose The bombe, with an enhancement suggested by mathematician Gordon Welchman, became one of the primary tools, and the major automated one, used to attack Enigma-protected message traffic. (William Gordon Welchman ( June 15, 1906 – October 8, 1985) was a British mathematician and World War II Codebreaker

Professor Jack Good, cryptanalyst working at the time with Turing at Bletchley Park, later said: "Turing's most important contribution, I think, was of part of the design of the bombe, the cryptanalytic machine. Irving John (Jack Good (born 9 December 1916) is a British Statistician who worked also as a Cryptographer at Bletchley Park He had the idea that you could use, in effect, a theorem in logic which sounds to the untrained ear rather absurd; namely that from a contradiction, you can deduce everything. "[17]

The bombe searched for possibly correct settings used for an Enigma message (ie, rotor order, rotor settings, etc), and used a suitable "crib": a fragment of probable plaintext. In Cryptanalysis, a crib is a sample of Known plaintext, or suspected plaintext; the term originated at Bletchley Park, the British In Cryptography, plaintext is the information which the sender wishes to transmit to the receiver(s For each possible setting of the rotors (which had of the order of 1019 states, or 1022 for the U-Boat Enigmas which eventually had four rotors, compared to the usual Enigma variant's three),[18] the bombe performed a chain of logical deductions based on the crib, implemented electrically. The bombe detected when a contradiction had occurred, and ruled out that setting, moving onto the next. Most of the possible settings would cause contradictions and be discarded, leaving only a few to be investigated in detail. Turing's bombe was first installed on 18 March 1940. Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [19] Over two hundred bombes were in operation by the end of the war. [20]

Hut 8 and Naval Enigma

In December 1940, Turing solved the naval Enigma indicator system, which was more mathematically complex than the indicator systems used by the other services. Turing also invented a Bayesian statistical technique termed "Banburismus" to assist in breaking Naval Enigma. In Probability theory, Bayes' theorem (often called Bayes' law after Thomas Bayes) relates the conditional and marginal probabilities of two Banburismus was a process invented by Alan Turing at Bletchley Park in England during the Second World War. Banburismus could rule out certain orders of the Enigma rotors, reducing time needed to test settings on the bombes.

In the spring of 1941, Turing proposed marriage to Hut 8 co-worker Joan Clarke, although the engagement was broken off by mutual agreement in the summer.

In July 1942, Turing devised a technique termed Turingismus or Turingery for use against the Lorenz cipher used in the Germans' new Geheimschreiber machine ("secret writer") which was one of those codenamed "Fish". He also introduced the Fish team to Tommy Flowers who under the guidance of Max Newman, went on to build the Colossus computer, the world's first programmable digital electronic computer, which replaced simpler prior machines (including the "Heath Robinson") and whose superior speed allowed the brute-force decryption techniques to be applied usefully to the daily-changing cyphers. Thomas (Tommy Harold Flowers MBE ( 22 December 1905 &ndash 28 October 1998) was an English engineer Maxwell Herman Alexander Newman ( February 7 1897 &ndash February 22 1984) was a British Mathematician and Codebreaker The Colossus machines were electronic Computing devices used by British codebreakers to read Encrypted German messages during [21] A frequent misconception is that Turing was a key figure in the design of Colossus; this was not the case. [22]

Turing travelled to the United States in November 1942 and worked with US Navy cryptanalysts on Naval Enigma and bombe construction in Washington, and assisted at Bell Labs with the development of secure speech devices. Bell Laboratories (also known as Bell Labs and formerly known as AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bell Telephone Laboratories) is the Research organization Secure voice (alternatively secure speech or ciphony) is a term in Cryptography for devices which are designed to provide voice encryption for voice He returned to Bletchley Park in March 1943. During his absence, Hugh Alexander had officially assumed the position of head of Hut 8, although Alexander had been de facto head for some time — Turing having little interest in the day-to-day running of the section. Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander, CMG, CBE ( 19 April 1909 &ndash 15 February 1974) was a Irish-born British Cryptanalyst Turing became a general consultant for cryptanalysis at Bletchley Park.

In the latter part of the war, while teaching himself electronics at the same time, and assisted by engineer Donald Bayley, Turing undertook the design of a portable machine codenamed Delilah to allow secure voice communications. Secure voice (alternatively secure speech or ciphony) is a term in Cryptography for devices which are designed to provide voice encryption for voice It was intended for different applications, lacking capability for use with long-distance radio transmissions, and in any case Delilah was completed too late to be used during the war. Though Turing demonstrated it to officials by encrypting/decrypting a recording of a Winston Churchill speech, Delilah was not adopted for use. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874

In 1945, Turing was awarded the OBE for his wartime services, but his work remained secret for many years. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British Order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. A biography published by the Royal Society shortly after his death recorded:

"Three remarkable papers written just before the war, on three diverse mathematical subjects, show the quality of the work that might have been produced if he had settled down to work on some big problem at that critical time. For his work at the Foreign Office he was awarded the OBE. "[23]

Early computers and the Turing Test

From 1945 to 1947 he was at the National Physical Laboratory, where he worked on the design of the ACE (Automatic Computing Engine). The National Physical Laboratory (NPL is the national Measurement standards laboratory for the United Kingdom, based at Bushy Park in Teddington The Automatic Computing Engine ( ACE) was an early Electronic stored-program Computer design produced by Alan Turing at the invitation of John He presented a paper on 19 February 1946, which was the first complete design of a stored-program computer in the UK. Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The von Neumann architecture is a design model for a stored-program Digital computer that uses a processing unit and a single separate storage structure Although he succeeded in designing the ACE, there were delays in starting the project and he became disillusioned. In late 1947 he returned to Cambridge for a sabbatical year. While he was at Cambridge, ACE was completed in his absence and executed its first program on 10 May 1950. Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

In 1948 he was appointed Reader in the Mathematics Department at Manchester and in 1949 became deputy director of the computing laboratory at the University of Manchester, and worked on software for one of the earliest true computers — the Manchester Mark I. The School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester is one of the largest mathematics departments in the United Kingdom, with around 80 academic staff and an The Victoria University of Manchester (commonly known as the University of Manchester) was a University in Manchester, England. The Victoria University of Manchester (commonly known as the University of Manchester) was a University in Manchester, England. This article is about the early British computer. The term "Manchester Mark I" can also refer to the Avro Manchester heavy bomber in RAF service during During this time he continued to do more abstract work, and in "Computing machinery and intelligence" (Mind, October 1950), Turing addressed the problem of artificial intelligence, and proposed an experiment now known as the Turing test, an attempt to define a standard for a machine to be called "sentient". Computing Machinery and Intelligence, written by Alan Turing and published in 1950 in Mind, is a seminal paper on the topic of Artificial The Turing test is a proposal for a test of a Machine 's ability to demonstrate intelligence The idea was that a computer could be said to "think" if it could fool an interrogator into thinking that the conversation was with a human.

In 1948, Turing, working with his former undergraduate colleague, D.G. Champernowne, began writing a chess program for a computer that did not yet exist. David Gawen Champernowne ( 9 July 1912 - 19 August 2000) was Professor of Statistical Economics at Oxford (1948 -1959 and professor of Economics In 1952, lacking a computer powerful enough to execute the program, Turing played a game in which he simulated the computer, taking about half an hour per move. The game was recorded;[2] the program lost to Turing's colleague Alick Glennie, although it is said that it won a game against Champernowne's wife. Alick E Glennie (1925-2003 was a British Computer scientist, most famous for having developed Autocode, which many people regard as the first ever

Pattern formation and mathematical biology

Turing worked from 1952 until his death in 1954 on mathematical biology, specifically morphogenesis. For use of basic artimethics in Biology see relevant topic such as Serial dilution. MOrphogenesis is an EP by Industrial Black metal band.And Oceans. He published one paper on the subject called "The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis" in 1952, putting forth the Turing hypothesis of pattern formation. [24] His central interest in the field was understanding Fibonacci phyllotaxis, the existence of Fibonacci numbers in plant structures. Leonardo of Pisa (c 1170 – c 1250 also known as Leonardo Pisano, Leonardo Bonacci, Leonardo Fibonacci, or most commonly simply Fibonacci In Botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of the leaves on the stem of a Plant. In Mathematics, the Fibonacci numbers are a Sequence of numbers named after Leonardo of Pisa, known as Fibonacci He used reaction-diffusion equations which are now central to the field of pattern formation. Reaction–diffusion systems are mathematical models that describe how the concentration of one or more substances distributed in space changes under the influence of two processes local The science of pattern formation deals with the visible ( statistically) orderly outcomes of Self-organisation and the common principles behind similar Later papers went unpublished until 1992 when Collected Works of A. M. Turing was published.

Prosecution for homosexual acts and Turing's death

Alan Turing at the Ratio Club, between 1949 and 1954.
Alan Turing at the Ratio Club, between 1949 and 1954. The Ratio Club was a small informal Dining club of young psychologists, physiologists, mathematicians and engineers who met to discuss

Turing was homosexual, and at that time homosexuality was illegal in the United Kingdom[5] and regarded as a mental illness and subject to criminal sanctions. Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as In 1952, Arnold Murray, a 19-year-old recent acquaintance of his,[25] helped an accomplice to break into Turing's house, and Turing went to the police to report the crime. Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. As a result of the police investigation, Turing acknowledged a sexual relationship with Murray, and a crime having been identified and settled, they were charged with gross indecency under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 (48 & 49 Victoria Cap 69 or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls the suppression of brothels and other purposes" The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 (48 & 49 Victoria Cap 69 or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls the suppression of brothels and other purposes" Turing was unrepentant and was convicted of the same crime Oscar Wilde had been convicted of more than fifty years before. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900 was an Irish Playwright, Novelist, poet and Author of [26]

He was given the choice between imprisonment and probation, conditional on his undergoing hormonal treatment designed to reduce libido. Hormones (from Greek ὁρμή - "impetus" are chemicals released by cells that affect cells in other parts of the body Chemical castration is a form of Castration caused by hormonal Medication. Libido in its common usage means Sexual desire however more technical definitions such as those found in the work of Carl Jung, are more general referring to libido In order to avoid going to jail, he accepted the estrogen hormone injections, which lasted for a year, with side effects including gynecomastia (breast enlargement). Estrogens (US otherwise oestrogens or œstrogens) are a group of Steroid compounds named for their importance in the Estrous cycle, Gynecomastia, or gynaecomastia, ˌgaɪnəkoʊˈmæstiə is the development of abnormally large Mammary glands in Males resulting in breast enlargement which His conviction led to a removal of his security clearance and prevented him from continuing consultancy for GCHQ on cryptographic matters. The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ is a British Intelligence agency responsible for providing Signals intelligence (SIGINT and Information At the time, there was acute public anxiety about spies and homosexual entrapment by Soviet agents.

On 8 June 1954, his cleaner found him dead; the previous day, he had died of cyanide poisoning, apparently from a cyanide-laced apple he left half-eaten beside his bed. Events 68 - The Roman Senate accepts emperor Galba. 536 - St Silverius becomes Pope (probable Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) A cyanide is any Chemical compound that contains the cyano group (C≡N which consists of a Carbon Atom triple-bonded to a In the context of Biology, poisons are substances that can cause damage, Illness, or Death to Organisms usually by The apple itself was never tested for contamination with cyanide, and cyanide poisoning as a cause of death was established by a post-mortem. Most believe that his death was intentional, and the death was ruled a suicide. His mother, however, strenuously argued that the ingestion was accidental due to his careless storage of laboratory chemicals. Biographer Andrew Hodges suggests that Turing may have killed himself in this ambiguous way quite deliberately, to give his mother some plausible deniability. Plausible deniability refers to the denial of blame in loose and informal chains of command where upper rungs quarantine the blame to the lower rungs [27] Others suggest that Turing was re-enacting a scene from "Snow White", his favourite fairy tale. Snow White (in Low German Sneewittchen; in High German Schneeweißchen) is the title character of a Fairy tale known from many countries in [28] Because Turing's homosexuality would have been perceived as a security risk, the possibility of assassination has also been suggested. [29] His remains were cremated at Woking crematorium on 12 June 1954. Events 1381 - Peasants' Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath. Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar)

Posthumous recognition

Since 1966, the Turing Award has been given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery to a person for technical contributions to the computing community. The A M Turing Award is given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational Computing society It is widely considered to be the computing world's equivalent to the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Prize (Nobelpriset (Nobelprisen is a Swedish prize established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Peace, Literature

Various tributes to Turing have been made in Manchester, the city where he worked towards the end of his life. In 1994 a stretch of the A6010 road (the Manchester city inner ring road) was named Alan Turing Way.

Alan Turing memorial statue in Sackville Park
Alan Turing memorial statue in Sackville Park

A statue of Turing was unveiled in Manchester on 23 June 2001. Whitworth Gardens (also known as Sackville Park, and more recently Sackville Gardens) in Manchester, England, is bounded by the City College The Alan Turing Memorial, situated in the Sackville Park in Manchester, England, is in memory of a father of modern computing Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. It is in Sackville Park, between the University of Manchester building on Whitworth Street and the Canal Street 'gay village'. Whitworth Gardens (also known as Sackville Park, and more recently Sackville Gardens) in Manchester, England, is bounded by the City College The University of Manchester is a " red brick " civic University located in Manchester, England. Canal Street is a street in Manchester in the north of England which is the centre of the Manchester Gay Village. A gay village (also known as a gay neighborhood or by the slang gayborhood) is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries A celebration of Turing's life and achievements arranged by the British Logic Colloquium and the British Society for the History of Mathematics was held on 5 June 2004 at the University of Manchester; the Alan Turing Institute was initiated in the university that summer. The British Society for the History of Mathematics (BSHM was founded in 1971 to promote research into the History of mathematics at all levels and to further the Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The Victoria University of Manchester (commonly known as the University of Manchester) was a University in Manchester, England. The Alan Turing Institute was set up in Manchester, England by UMIST and the Victoria University of Manchester is part of the School of The building housing the School of Mathematics, the Photon Sciences Institute and the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics is named the Alan Turing Building and was opened in July 2007. The School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester is one of the largest mathematics departments in the United Kingdom, with around 80 academic staff and an The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, at the University of Manchester, UK, consists of the Jodrell Bank Observatory and the academics based in the This article is about the Alan Turing Building in Manchester there is another building of the the same name at QinetiQ in Malvern

On 23 June 1998, on what would have been Turing's 86th birthday, Andrew Hodges, his biographer, unveiled an official English Heritage Blue Plaque on his childhood home in Warrington Crescent, London, now the Colonnade hotel. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) English Heritage is a Non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government ( Department for Culture Media and Sport) with a broad remit of In the United Kingdom, a blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. [30][31] To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, a memorial plaque was unveiled on 7 June 2004 at his former residence, Hollymeade, in Wilmslow. Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "

Plaque marking Turing's home
Plaque marking Turing's home

For his achievements in computing, various universities have honoured him. On 28 October 2004 a bronze statue of Alan Turing sculpted by John W Mills was unveiled at the University of Surrey. Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " John William Mills ( PPRBS ARCA FRSA) is an English sculptor. The University of Surrey is a University located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England [32] The statue marks the 50th anniversary of Turing's death. It portrays him carrying his books across the campus. The Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico and Los Andes University in Bogotá, Colombia, both have computer laboratories named after Turing. The Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico ( PUPR) &mdashcommonly referred as Poly or La Poly in Spanish &mdash is a private Universidad de los Andes (also known as Uniandes) is a Private university located in Bogotá, Colombia. Bogotá —officially named Bogotá DC (DC for " Distrito Capital " which means "Capital District" formerly called Santa Fe de Bogotá Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. The University of Texas at Austin has an honours computer science programme named the Turing Scholars. Istanbul Bilgi University organizes an annual conference on the theory of computation called Turing Days. Istanbul Bilgi University (İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi is a private non-profit university in Istanbul, Turkey. [33] The computer room in King's College, Cambridge is named the "Turing Room" after him. King's College Cambridge is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Carnegie Mellon University has a granite bench, situated in The Hornbostel Mall, with the name "A. Carnegie Mellon University (also known as CMU) is a private Research University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United M. Turing" carved across the top, "Read" down the left leg, and "Write" down the other. The Boston GLBT pride organization named Turing their 2006 Honorary Grand Marshal. LGBT pride or gay pride refers to a world wide movement and philosophy asserting that LGBT ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and [34]

A 1. 5-ton, life-size statue of Turing was unveiled on 19 June 2007 at Bletchley Park. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Built from approximately half a million pieces of Welsh slate, it was sculpted by Stephen Kettle, having been commissioned by the late American billionaire Sidney Frank. Slate is a fine-grained foliated homogeneous, Metamorphic rock derived from an original Shale -type Sedimentary rock composed of Clay Stephen Kettle (born 12 July, 1966, in Castle Bromwich, England) is a British Sculptor who works exclusively with Slate Sidney E Frank ( October 2, 1919 – January 10, 2006) was an American businessman who became a Billionaire through his [35]

The Turing Relay[36] is a six-stage relay race on riverside footpaths from Ely to Cambridge and back. Ely (, rhyming with "freely" is a Cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. These paths were used for running by Turing while at Cambridge; his marathon best time was 2 hours, 46 minutes.

Experimental music duo Matmos, whose members are a homosexual couple, released a limited edition EP in 2006 entitled For Alan Turing. Matmos is an experimental Electronic music duo from San Francisco signed to the Matador Records label The term special edition ( deluxe edition and collector's edition are also used is a term generally used as a Marketing incentive for various kinds of products An extended play ( EP) is a Vinyl record, CD, or Music download which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify

Turing in fiction

See also

References

  1. ^ "This loss shattered Turing's religious faith and led him into atheism. In a far-sighted 1948 report Alan Turing suggested that the infant human cortex was what he called an unorganized machine. Good–Turing frequency estimation is a statistical technique for predicting the probability of occurrence of objects belonging to an unknown number of species given past observations The philosophy of information (PI is the area of research that studies conceptual issues arising at the intersection of Computer science, Information technology, . . " Time 100 profile of Alan Turing, p. 2
  2. ^ "He was an atheist. . . " Alan Turing: Father of the computer, BBC News, 28 April 1999. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Retrieved 11 June 2007. Events 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to the calculations of Eratosthenes. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  3. ^ Hodges, 1983, p. 5
  4. ^ London Blue Plaques. English-Heritage. org. uk. Retrieved on 2007-02-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead
  5. ^ a b Hodges, Andrew (1983). Alan Turing: The Enigma. New York: Simon & Schuster, pp. 5. ISBN 0-671-49207-1.  
  6. ^ The Alan Turing Internet Scrapbook. Retrieved on 2006-09-26. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a
  7. ^ Jones, G. James (2001-12-11). Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Alan Turing - Towards a Digital Mind: Part 1. System Toolbox. Retrieved on 2007-07-27. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England.
  8. ^ Hofstadter, Douglas R. (1985). Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern. Basic Books. ISBN 0465045669.  
  9. ^ Hodges, 1983, p. 26
  10. ^ Hodges, 1983, p. 34
  11. ^ ** Teuscher, Christof (ed.) (2004). Christof Teuscher, PhD, is an author and editor who works at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Alan Turing: Life and Legacy of a Great Thinker. Springer-Verlag. Springer Science+Business Media or Springer (ˈʃpʁɪŋɐ is a worldwide Publishing company based in Germany, which publishes textbooks academic ISBN 3-540-20020-7.  
  12. ^ Paul Gray, "Alan Turing," Time Magazine's Most Important People of the Century, p. 2 [1]
  13. ^ Hodges, 1983, p. 152
  14. ^ Hodges, 1983, pp. 153-154
  15. ^ Jack Copeland, "Colossus and the Dawning of the Computer Age", p. 352 in Action This Day, 2001
  16. ^ a b Copeland (ed. ), B. Jack (2006). Colossus: The Secrets of Bletchley Park's Codebreaking Computers. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 378. ISBN 019284055X.  
  17. ^ "The Men Who Cracked Enigma", 2003
  18. ^ Professor Jack Good in "The Men Who Cracked Enigma", 2003: with his caveat: "if my memory is correct"
  19. ^ Hodges, 1983, p. 191
  20. ^ Copeland, Jack; Diane Proudfoot (May, 2004). Alan Turing, Codebreaker and Computer Pioneer. Retrieved on 2007-07-27. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England.
  21. ^ Copeland, 2006, pp. 72
  22. ^ Copeland, 2006, pp. 382-383
  23. ^ Newman, M. H. A. (1955). Alan Mathison Turing, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1955, Volume 1. The Royal Society.  
  24. ^ "Control Mechanism For Biological Pattern Formation Decoded" in ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2006)
  25. ^ cf. Hodges, pp. 449-455
  26. ^ Leavitt, David The Man Who Knew Too Much, p. 268, W. W. Norton & Co. , 2006 ISBN 0-393-05236-2
  27. ^ Hodges, 1983, pp. 488-489
  28. ^ Ferris, Timothy. Seeing in the Dark. 2002. p. 250
  29. ^ Leavitt, David (2006). David Leavitt (born June 23, 1961) is an American novelist Biography Born in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Leavitt is a graduate The man who knew too much: Alan Turing and the invention of the computer. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0393052362.  
  30. ^ Unveiling the official Blue Plaque on Alan Turing's Birthplace. Retrieved on 2006-09-26. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar dedicates a
  31. ^ About this Plaque - Alan Turing. Retrieved on 2006-09-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 303 - On a voyage preaching the Gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France
  32. ^ The Earl of Wessex unveils statue of Alan Turing. Retrieved on 2007-02-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead
  33. ^ Turing Days @ İstanbul Bilgi University. Retrieved on 2007-02-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead
  34. ^ Honorary Grand Marshal. Retrieved on 2007-02-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead
  35. ^ Bletchley Park Unveils Statue Commemorating Alan Turing, Bletchley Park press release, 20 June 2007]
  36. ^ Turing Trail Relay

Further reading

External links

Papers

Persondata
NAME Turing, Alan Mathison
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Computer scientist, mathematician, and cryptographer
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1912(1912-06-23)
PLACE OF BIRTH Paddington, London, England
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 1954
PLACE OF DEATH Manchester, England

The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive is an award-winning website maintained by John J Find A Grave is a Website allowing its users to access maintain and expand an online Database of Burial records The Mathematics Genealogy Project is a web-based Database that gives an Academic genealogy based on Dissertation supervision relations A computer scientist is a person that has acquired knowledge of Computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study and research is the field of Mathematics. Cryptography (or cryptology; from Greek grc κρυπτός kryptos, "hidden secret" and grc γράφω gráphō, "I write" Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Paddington is an area of the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 1099 - The First Crusade: The Siege of Jerusalem begins Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
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