Alan Turing
Facts and Information
Early Life
Alan Mathison Turing was born on the 23rd June 1912 in Paddington, London. He had an older brother, John. His parents lived in India until 1926 when his father retired from the Indian Civil Service, when Alan was 14 years old. In this time he had started attending Sherborne School, a well known academy, at the age of 13.
However, Alan's inclination towards maths and science did not earn him respect from many of his teachers at Sherborne, as they preferred to teach the traditional way, focusing on English. However, he continued to excel in the studies he loved and even grasped some of Einstein's studies at a mere 16.
Turing studied at King's College, Cambridge, as an undergraduate between 1931-34.
Work in WW11
Aided by co-workers Gordon Welchman, Hugh Alexander and Stuart Milner-Barry, the bombe was eventually able to crack enigma. It is suspected that this achievement shortened the war by at least two years.
Alan was awarded an OBE at the end of the war, but the reason why was kept secret for the best part of thirty years. Enigma was still described as 'unbreakable' until the 1970s. The mission Hut 8 had been working on was so secret the government made them burn their notes.
Death
The Queen gave Alan Turing a royal pardon and public apology in 2012.
Portrayal In Media
Quotes
- "We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done."
- "A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing it was human."
- "A man provided with paper, pencil and rubber, and subjected to strict discipline, is effectively a universal machine."