Alan Turing
Mathematician, code breaker and computer scientist.
In 1936,Alan Turing published a paper that is now recognised as the foundation of computer science.
Turing analysed what it meant for a human to follow a definite method or procedure to perform a task. For this purpose, he invented the idea of a ‘Universal Machine’ that could decode and perform any set of instructions. Ten years later he would turn this revolutionary idea into a practical plan for an electronic computer, capable of running any program.
In March 1946 Turing produced a detailed design for what was called the Automatic Computing Engine.
This was a digital computer in the modern sense, storing programs in its memory. His report emphasised the unlimited range of applications opened up by this technological revolution, and software developments ahead of parallel American developments.