Who was Alan Turing? The Guy who Defeated the Nazis

A polymath in the truest sense, Alan Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence. The Englishman graduated from King’s College in Mathematics and obtained his PhD from the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University by 1938. The German forces had been using cipher devices called Enigma Machines for top-secret military and diplomatic messages. Earlier versions of the enigma machine existed since the 1920s as a commercial product. Gradually, Nazis started using them and introduced further complex mechanisms. Although Poland had decrypted the machines back in 1932 itself, the newer models deployed much tricker “unsolvable algorithms”. Turing was a key member of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking center. He led Hut 8, a section that handled German naval cryptanalysis, for a period of time. He modified the Polish bombe method, which was an electromechanical machine that could find Enigma machine settings, for breaking German ciphers faster. During many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic, Turing was vital in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers. As much of Turing's work was covered by the Official Secrets Act, he was never fully recognized in Britain during his lifetime. In 1952, Turing was prosecuted for homosexual acts. He was made to go through chemical castration to avoid prison time. Turing died from cyanide poisoning on 7 June 1954, which was speculated as suicide. In 2009, British PM Gordon Brown apologized on behalf of the British government for "the appalling way Turing was treated". Queen Elizabeth II pardoned Turing posthumously in 2013. Informally known as the "Alan Turing law", it refers to a 2017 law in the United Kingdom that retroactively pardons homosexual men cautioned or convicted under historical legislation. The Bank of England released a £50 note featuring Turing on the occasion of his birthday on 23 June 2021. Considered the "Nobel Prize of Computing", the Turing Award is given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for achievements in computer science of lasting and paramount technical importance. “The Imitation Game” is a 2014 biopic about Alan Turing, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. The film won the Best Adapted Screenplay Award at the 87th Academy Awards. Thanks for watching Summachar!