Today would have been the 100th birthday of Alan Turing. I can only imagine the amazing work he would have done had he not died prematurely. If you aren't familiar with him he was a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist. He worked at Bletchley Park during WWII and devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the bombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. The horrific treatment he encountered on account of his homosexuality (which was shockingly illegal until 1967 in the UK) reminds me that human understanding really has evolved but of course it must do so much further. Go and read a little about his work today and be inspired :-)
Interesting article I read today stating his death may not have been suicide - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18561092 "In a way we have in modern times been recreating the narrative of Turing's life, and we have recreated him as an unhappy young man who committed suicide. But the evidence is not there. "The exact circumstances of Turing's death will probably always be unclear," Prof Copeland concludes."Perhaps we should just shrug our shoulders, and focus on Turing's life and extraordinary work."*
*I must add, this does not mean, shrug your shoulders at his wrong treatment, it is only saying that as the case was so poorly carried out and evidence now lost, we may never know, so in such a case look at what we do have. I think it's also interesting that it shows a different side of his character, maybe he would not want to be seen as a tragic figure? Ok, on with reading about morphogenesis and practicing your cryptanalysis everyone. Off you go.
Interesting article I read today stating his death may not have been suicide - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18561092 "In a way we have in modern times been recreating the narrative of Turing's life, and we have recreated him as an unhappy young man who committed suicide. But the evidence is not there. "The exact circumstances of Turing's death will probably always be unclear," Prof Copeland concludes."Perhaps we should just shrug our shoulders, and focus on Turing's life and extraordinary work."*
*I must add, this does not mean, shrug your shoulders at his wrong treatment, it is only saying that as the case was so poorly carried out and evidence now lost, we may never know, so in such a case look at what we do have. I think it's also interesting that it shows a different side of his character, maybe he would not want to be seen as a tragic figure? Ok, on with reading about morphogenesis and practicing your cryptanalysis everyone. Off you go.
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so many of our great minds were lost to us at such a young age, really sad, we might be so much more advanced if they all had lived to be 90.