Alan Turing

Computer Scientist

1912 – 1954

76

Who was Alan Turing?

Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS, was a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, giving a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general purpose computer. Turing is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence.

During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre. For a time he was head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. 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.

After the war, he worked at the National Physical Laboratory, where he designed the ACE, one of the first designs for a stored-program computer. In 1948 Turing joined Max Newman's Computing Laboratory at Manchester University, where he assisted in the development of 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, which were first observed in the 1960s.

Famous Quotes:

  • Mathematical reasoning may be regarded...
  • No, I'm not interested in developing a powerful brain...
  • Science is a differential equation. Religion is a boundary condition.
  • We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.
  • Machines take me by surprise with great frequency.
  • Alan Turing

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Born
Jun 23, 1912
Maida Vale
Also known as
  • Alan Mathison Turing
Parents
Siblings
Religion
  • Atheism
Ethnicity
  • Anglo-Saxons
  • British people
Nationality
  • United Kingdom
  • England
Profession
Education
  • Doctorate, Princeton University
    (1936 - 1938/06)
  • King's College, Cambridge
    Mathematics
    (1931 - 1934)
  • Sherborne School
    (1926 - )
  • Institute for Advanced Study
  • St. Michael's School
Employment
  • National Physical Laboratory
  • Hut 8
Lived in
  • England
  • Richmond, London
Died
Jun 7, 1954
Wilmslow

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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