Alan Turing - Revision history

Jnc: /* Further reading */ +lik to online copy

2024-03-30T15:55:38Z

‎Further reading: +lik to online copy

Jnc: /* External links */ +sort

2024-03-22T22:17:21Z

‎External links: +sort

Jnc: /* External links */ +brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society

2024-03-22T19:10:08Z

‎External links: +brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society

Jnc: /* Further reading */ +Alan Turing: The Architect of the Computer Age

2024-03-15T17:52:53Z

‎Further reading: +Alan Turing: The Architect of the Computer Age

Jnc: Clarify that ACE report was contemporaneous with EDVAC report

2024-03-15T14:07:57Z

Clarify that ACE report was contemporaneous with EDVAC report

Jnc: Reasonably complete

2024-03-14T23:50:25Z

Reasonably complete

New page

'''Alan Turing''' was an English mathematician who both created the theoretical background which described the capabilities of [[program]]mable [[computing device]]s, and also had a major practical role in the early work on them.

His 1936-37 theoretical paper ''On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem'' is the foundation and keystone of all later theoretical work on [[computer]]s; it described what is now called the [[Turing machine]], and proved limits on what it could and could not do. This led to him spending time at the [[Institute for Advanced Study]], where he worked with [[John von Neumann]].

In addition to being a brilliant theoretician, Turing also had a strong practical side.

Early in World War II, he was the joint head of the team that broke into the Germans' [[Enigma]] [[cipher]], and helped specify the '[[bombe]]', a specialized device built by the British to find the settings used on Enigma machines. Later in the war, he visited [[Bell Laboratories|Bell Labs]], to review the [[SIGSALY]] voice-encryption system (also known as the 'X-System', or 'System X'); while there, he also spent time with [[Claude Shannon]]. On his return to the UK, he designed, and personally helped physically build (with a miniscule team of only a few people), the 'Delilah' voice-encryption system.

After the war, he moved to the National Physical Laboratory, and, inspired by von Neumann's ''First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'', designed the [[Automatic Computing Engine]], and wrote a lengthy report on it. Apparently unhappy at the delays in building it, he then moved to Manchester University, where he joined the team working on the [[Manchester Mark I]], and wrote the first edition of the manual for it. He then became interested in [[artificial intelligence]], and invented the [[Turing test]].

By the early 1050's, his interests had turned to biology. On June 8, 1954 he was found dead from the ingestion of cyanide on an apple; whether deliberate (suicide) or accidental is still debated.

{{semi-stub}}

==Further reading==

* Alan Turing, [https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Turing_Paper_1936.pdf ''On computable numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem'']
* Sara Turing, ''Alan M. Turing'', Cambridge University, Cambridge, 1959; re-printed 2012
* Andrew Hodges, ''Alan Turing: The Enigma'', Simon & Schuster, New York, 1983 - the definitive biography
* B. Jack Copeland, ''Turing: Pioneer of the Information Age'', Oxford University, Oxford, 2012
* David Leavitt, ''The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer'', W. W. Norton, New York, 2006 - a shorter biography; has some minor errors, but very readable
* David E. Newton, ''Alan Turing: A Study in Light and Shadow'', Xlibris, 2003
* Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson, ''The Turing Guide'', Oxford University, Oxford, 2017 - a large collection of essays, on a broad range of Turing-related subjects
* Simon Lavington, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Chris Burton, ''Alan Turing and His Contemporaries: Building the World's First Computers'', British Informatics Society, Swindon, 2012 - ditto

==External links==

* [https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/ The Turing Digital Archive]
* [https://www.turing.org.uk/ Alan Turing: The Enigma] - a Web-site maintained by his biographer, Andrew Hodges

[[Category: People]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:17, 22 March 2024
Line 31:		Line 31:
	* [https://history.computer.org/pioneers/pdfs/T/Turing.pdf Alan Turing] - brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society		* [https://history.computer.org/pioneers/pdfs/T/Turing.pdf Alan Turing] - brief biography at the IEEE Computer Society

		+	{{DEFAULTSORT: Turing, Alan}}
	[[Category: People]]		[[Category: People]]

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 * David E. Newton, ''Alan Turing: A Study in Light and Shadow'', Xlibris, 2003
 * Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson, ''The Turing Guide'', Oxford University, Oxford, 2017 - a large collection of essays, on a broad range of Turing-related subjects
-* Simon Lavington, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Chris Burton, ''Alan Turing and His Contemporaries: Building the World's First Computers'', British Informatics Society, Swindon, 2012 - ditto
+* Simon Lavington, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Chris Burton, [https://dokumen.pub/alan-turing-and-his-contemporaries-building-the-worlds-first-computers-9781780171067-9781906124908-9781780171050-1780171064.html ''Alan Turing and His Contemporaries: Building the World's First Computers''], British Informatics Society, Swindon, 2012 - ditto
 ==External links==

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 * [https://turingarchive.kings.cam.ac.uk/ The Turing Digital Archive]
 * [https://www.turing.org.uk/ Alan Turing: The Enigma] - a Web-site maintained by his biographer, Andrew Hodges
 [[Category: People]]

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * B. Jack Copeland, ''Turing: Pioneer of the Information Age'', Oxford University, Oxford, 2012
 * David Leavitt, ''The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer'', W. W. Norton, New York, 2006 - a shorter biography; has some minor errors, but very readable
 * David E. Newton, ''Alan Turing: A Study in Light and Shadow'', Xlibris, 2003
 * Jack Copeland, Jonathan Bowen, Mark Sprevak, Robin Wilson, ''The Turing Guide'', Oxford University, Oxford, 2017 - a large collection of essays, on a broad range of Turing-related subjects

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Early in World War II, he was the joint head of the team that broke into the Germans' [[Enigma]] [[cipher]], and helped specify the '[[bombe]]', a specialized device built by the British to find the settings used on Enigma machines. Later in the war, he visited [[Bell Laboratories|Bell Labs]], to review the [[SIGSALY]] voice-encryption system (also known as the 'X-System', or 'System X'); while there, he also spent time with [[Claude Shannon]]. On his return to the UK, he designed, and personally helped physically build (with a miniscule team of only a few people), the 'Delilah' voice-encryption system.
-After the war, he moved to the National Physical Laboratory, and, inspired by von Neumann's ''First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'', designed the [[Automatic Computing Engine]], and wrote a lengthy report on it. Apparently unhappy at the delays in building it, he then moved to Manchester University, where he joined the team working on the [[Manchester Mark I]], and wrote the first edition of the manual for it. He then became interested in [[artificial intelligence]], and invented the [[Turing test]].
+After the war, he moved to the National Physical Laboratory, and, perhaps inspired to some degree by von Neumann's  ''First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC'', Turing designed the [[Automatic Computing Engine]], and wrote a lengthy report on it. Apparently unhappy at the delays in building it, he then moved to Manchester University, where he joined the team working on the [[Manchester Mark I]], and wrote the first edition of the manual for it. He then became interested in [[artificial intelligence]], and invented the [[Turing test]].
 By the early 1050's, his interests had turned to biology. On June 8, 1954 he was found dead from the ingestion of cyanide on an apple; whether deliberate (suicide) or accidental is still debated.