Alan Turing

Early Life
Born on June 23, 1912 in London, Alan Turing was in fact conceived in India, where his father had joined the Indian Civil Service. It was more likely his mother's side of the family however, who influenced his interest in the sciences.

Turing met Christopher Morcom in 1928 and became attracted to him on numerous levels in their two years of companionship prior to Morcom's untimely death. This tragedy sparked more curiosity in the young Turing, who began to ponder the connection of mind and matter--wondering if the mind "could be released from matter by death" (Hodges, 2).

In 1931, he was accepted into King's College, University of Cambridge. He graduated within three years and King's College provided him with a fellowship. After completing his education there, he elected to study at Princeton University under the guidance of Alonzo Church. Turing showed a prowess for cryptology during his time at Princeton. Eventually, he made his way back to Cambridge.

Career
 Turing began his operational career in 1939 with the Government Code and Cypher School in Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. At the beginning of World War II, Turing worked on a team to develop a device named the bombe. This machine was used to encrypt and decrypt messages for Allied forces. The operators were capable of decoding up to 84,000 intercepted messages each month.

 During the war, he developed a cryptanalytic process entitled Banburismus in order to defeat the Germans' usage of Enigma machines. Turing visited the United States during the war and he aided Bell Labs with secure speech devices. This work led him to believe in the viability of telephony encryption. He worked on a mobile system named Delilah and he assisted Bell Labs with the SIGSALY.

 After World War II, Turing began designing computers for the National Physical Laboratory. His Automatic Computing Engine wasn't adopted, but it was superior to other machines at the time. His machine was eventually used as a model for other computers, such as the Bendix G-15. He decided to leave NPL to return to Cambridge. While he was gone, the NPL constructed the Pilot ACE.

 Turing became the Deputy Director of the Computing Laboratory at the University of Manchester in 1948. He worked on the Manchester Mark 1 and he disseminated information regarding artificial intelligence. The Turing test is an essential contribution to the artificial intelligence field. Turing deduced that building a machine that "learns" is more favorable than writing a program that emulates a mature human being. He also contributed to mathematical biology. The rest of his career was spent at the University of Manchester until his untimely death in 1954.

 14:27 Alan Turing (13 changes | hist). . (+2,393) . . [71.229.7.100 (4×); Acc11j (9×)] (Andrew Cruz)

 - Added additional references for clarity.

 (Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4*, 5, 6, 7)

 4. http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/documents/cryptdict/page05.htm

 5. http://www.turing.org.uk/sources/delilah.html

 6. http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/center_crypt_history/publications/sigsaly_story.shtml

 7. http://www.turing.org.uk/bio/part7.html

 *4 is a sub-source of 3

==Publications, patents, and other intellectual property ==

Turings publications made an impressive impact in the fields of information, mathematics, computer science, biology, philosophy, metaphysics, and even mathematical logic and quantum mechanics. Many of the papers he wrote, were not published and many were left undone. His best known published works include "On Computable Numbers" (1936) and "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" (1950).

One of his biggest works included the Turing Machine. This machine was able to read and follow very simple instructions. These instructions were written on a paper or a strip. once the instructions were written on the paper, it would go through the machine and the device would read the paper and follow the desired instructions. The turing machine was only capable of following instructions from a paper, it wasn’t designed to think on its own. Turing machine can be adapted to simulate the logic of any computer algorithm. From the creation of this machine, Alan turing was known as the father of computer science.

While he was working at Bletchley Park complex, he solved a code that was almost impossible to crack, called the German Enigma Machine. To be able to do this work, he used an electromechanical device called a Bombe. The main function of the Bombe was to break into the German military networks and find out the settings. Alan Turing spent a lot of time on his own trying to crack this code until he managed to reverse engineer this Machine. These ideas and form of intelligence that Turing used to solve the impossible, allowed the British to anticipate attacks, in which changed the World War II.

(Sources: 7, 8)

22:30 Alan Turing‎‎ (15 changes | hist). . (+2,862)‎ . . [Marcosjj‎; 71.229.7.100‎ (4×); Acc11j‎ (10×)]

Awards and Recognitions
 During his lifetime, Turing received several distinguished awards for his work as a mathematician and computer scientist. He earned his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1938, where he gained attention for his thesis on mathematics, Systems of Logic Based on Ordinals (O’Connor & Robertson). His thesis is often commended as being one of the most distinguished theses ever written by a Princeton graduate (“Turing’s Princeton Dissertation”), as his work led to the formulation of the Turing machine (O’Connor & Robertson).

 In the 1940’s, Turing contributed to the war effort in America by working on German encryption codes (O’Connor & Robertson). He was awarded the O.B.E. in 1945, which stands for the Order of the British Empire (“Order of the British Empire”). King George V created this award during WWI to recognize those who had made major contributions to society through the arts and sciences (“Order of the British Empire”). Since Turing was born in London, he was eligible for this prestigious order of chivalry (“Order of the British Empire”).

 In 1951, Turing was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of London for his Turing machine breakthroughs in 1936 (O’Connor & Robertson). The Royal Society only elects the best and brightest scientists to the Fellowship, as they are elected for life based on excellence (“Royal Society: About Us”). By receiving this award, Turing joined the ranks of legends, such as Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton (“Royal Society: About Us”).

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Times;"> After his death, Alan Turing’s legacy has truly thrived. Several landmarks and roads have been named in his honor and countless statues have been erected of his likeness (Hodges). An official English Heritage blue plaque has been placed at his former home in London, serving as an important historical marker to passerby (Hodges). The Turing Award is perhaps the most well-known of his posthumous recognitions, as it is often considered to be the parallel of the Nobel Prize in the computer science realm (“A.M. Turing Award”). It was established in 1966 by the Association for Computing Machinery, awarded annually to an individual who has made a major impact on the world of computer science (“A.M. Turing Award”).

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:10px;text-align:center;font-size:12px;line-height:normal;font-family:Times;"> Works Cited

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;font-size:12px;font-family:Times;"> "A.M. Turing Award." ACM. Association for Computing Machinery, 2012. Web. 03 Oct. 2012. <http://amturing.acm.org/>.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;font-size:12px;font-family:Times;"> Hodges, Andrew. "Memorials to Alan Turing." The Alan Turing Internet Scrapbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2012. <http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/scrapbook/memorial.html>.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;font-size:12px;font-family:Times;"> O'Connor, John J., and Edmund F. Robertson. "Alan Mathison Turing." MacTutor. University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Oct. 2003. Web. 03 Oct. 2012. <http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Turing.html>.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;font-size:12px;font-family:Times;"> "Order of the British Empire." The British Monarchy. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2012. <http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Honours/OrderoftheBritishEmpire.aspx>.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;font-size:12px;font-family:Times;"> "Royal Society: About Us." The Royal Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2012. <http://royalsociety.org/about-us/>.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;font-size:12px;font-family:Times;"> "Turing's Princeton Dissertation." Turing Centennial Celebration. Princeton University, 2012. Web. 03 Oct. 2012. <http://www.princeton.edu/turing/alan/dissertation/>.

Critical Analysis and Interpretation
Alan Turing is considered one of the earliest and most important pioneers in the field of computer science. During his lifetime he accomplished many things that were crucial to the development of computers. He is considered one of the fathers of computer science because of his impressive work that proved computers were able to be programmed. His greatest accomplishment was the Turing Test (Turing Machine). This hypothetical device was the initial attempt at determining if computers could actually “think”. This machine gave some ideas on what it would mean to have a program and what computation really was. The device itself could not really be implemented, but it was the concept of the device that shaped the future of computer science. It was because of the logic that was in the machine that made it so important. It showed that any computable function could be calculated, and also formed the early concepts of algorithms and artificial intelligence.

In addition to this major invention, another breakthrough he was involved in was the breaking of the Naval Enigma code. The “Enigma” was a cipher machine used to encrypt secret messages for the German military during the Second World War. The breaking of this code allowed Britain’s food and supplies to be shipped across the Atlantic and also helped bring World War II to an end. It is said that if it were not for Turing’s work with computers none of this could have been possible and the future could have been very different.

Because Alan Turing was gay during a time where it was deemed illegal, he was forced to go through hormone treatment and then resulted in the loss of his job. In the end, he committed suicide by biting into a poisoned apple laced with cyanide. It was not until 2009, when the British Government made an official apology about the way he was treated. Even though the death of Turing was unjust, the legacy he left behind is huge and especially in the technologic world we live in today.

01:27 Alan Turing‎‎ (9 changes | hist). . (+3,204)‎ . . 68.35.236.230‎; 68.59.124.230‎; Akash Sawh‎ (3×); 71.229.4.107‎ (4×)] (Akash Sawh)

(Sources: 5, 6)

Application to IT or ICT Professionals
<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';"> It is important for Information Technology and ICT professionals to recognize the history of computers and how technology built itself into what we study today. Alan Turing helped lay the foundation for the technology field with his unique philosophies, expertise in cryptology and the development of concepts such as the Turing Machine (Alan M. Turing).

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';"> Alan Turing’s remarkable life gave way to the evolution of computer science, and ultimately, the development of Information Technology and Information, Communication and Technology where they stand today. He helped shape the way that technology itself evolved because he was involved in its roots. The Turing Machine itself was the concept of a general computer in which he described as a concept of something mechanical and automatic (Alan Turing). This idea was published in 1936, eventually leading to the modern computer arising out of the formula of behaving mechanically that Turing discovered during his studies (Alan Turing).

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';"> Many IT professionals will deal with security sometime during their career, whether its cryptology or encoding. Alan Turing also pioneered a large part of the code-breaking field in its early days. He successfully developed the Bombe, which was essentially a code-breaking machine that decrypted communications (Alan M. Turing). This was used during World War II and gave the Allies a significant advantage during the war.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';"> Lastly, as a computer developer he designed the Automatic Computing Engine, or ACE. It was the first general purpose digital computer. However, his model was deemed too advanced for the time, and a similar but more simplified model was built instead (Alan M. Turing).

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';color:rgb(4,51,255);"> 03:28, September 24, 2012 Tew09 (Talk | contribs). . (13,630 bytes) (+1,746) <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;margin-left:36px;text-indent:36px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';color:rgb(2,30,170);"> http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing/ <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;margin-left:36px;text-indent:36px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';color:rgb(2,30,170);"> http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/609739/Alan-M-Turing
 * Alan Turing. In Standard Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from
 * Alan M. Turing. In Encyclopedia Britannica: Facts Matter. Retreived from

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px;font-size:16px;line-height:normal;font-family:'TimesNewRoman';"> (Sources: 1, 11)