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English mathematician who conceived of the Turing machine and broke German codes during World War II (1912-1954)

English mathematician who conceived of the Turing machine and broke German codes during World War II (1912-1954)

Alan M. Turing, 1912-06-22/3? - 1954-06-07. ABritish mathematician, inventor of the Turing Machine.Turing also proposed the Turing test. Turing's work wasfundamental in the theoretical foundations of computerscience.Turing was a student and fellow of King's College Cambridgeand was a graduate student at Princeton University from 1936to 1938. While at Princeton Turing published "On ComputableNumbers", a paper in which he conceived an abstract machine,now called a Turing Machine.Turing returned to England in 1938 and during World War II, heworked in the British Foreign Office. He mastermindedoperations at Bletchley Park, UK which were highlysuccessful in cracking the Nazis "Enigma" codes during WorldWar II. Some of his early advances in computer design wereinspired by the need to perform many repetitive symbolicmanipulations quickly. Before the building of the Colossuscomputer this work was done by a roomful of women.In 1945 he joined the National Physical Laboratory in Londonand worked on the design and construction of a large computer,named Automatic Computing Engine (ACE). In 1949 Turingbecame deputy director of the Computing Laboratory atManchester where the Manchester Automatic Digital Machine,the worlds largest memory computer, was being built.He also worked on theories of artificial intelligence, andon the application of mathematical theory to biological forms.In 1952 he published the first part of his theoretical studyof morphogenesis, the development of pattern and form inliving organisms.Turing was gay, and died rather young under mysteriouscircumstances. He was arrested for violation of Britishhomosexuality statutes in 1952. He died of potassium cyanidepoisoning while conducting electrolysis experiments. Aninquest concluded that it was self-administered but it is nowthought by some to have been an accident.There is an excellent biography of Turing by Andrew Hodges,subtitled "The Enigma of Intelligence" and a play based on itcalled "Breaking the Code". There was also a popular summaryof his work in Douglas Hofstadter's book "Gödel, Escher,Bach". (http://AlanTuring.net/).