The British government has finally said sorry to Alan Turing: WWII computer hero and father of modern computer science. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers savor Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s apology for the way Turing was treated because he was gay.
As a mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst and computer scientist, he helped create the mathematical algorithm and was central to the allies’ successful decryption of German military ciphers during the second world war.
Turing’s work in breaking the German Enigma code arguably tipped the balance of the war in Europe in favour of the allies. Many believe it hastened the end by two years.
Later Turing went on to break the Lorenz cipher, the German method of cryptology that replaced the Enigma.
In 1945 he was awarded and OBE for his services to the military, although his work remained secret for years. From 1945 to 1952 Turing returned to academia.
In 1952 Turing began an affair with 19-year-old Arnold Murray. Homosexuality was a criminal offence in England at the time, and Turing was convicted of gross indecency for having a relationship with Murray.
He was given a choice between prison or chemical castration. He opted to have oestrogen hormone injections, a procedure which lasted a year. The treatment however had a number of side effects, including the development of breasts.
The incident left his life in ruin.
Two years later, on 9 June 1954, Alan Turing was found dead at his home. It is believed he deliberately ate an apple laced with cyanide.
Years later the founders of Apple computers chose to pay tribute to Turing who laid the foundations of the modern day computer with their corporate logo; an apple with a missing bite.
