Looking At Turing

Jim Jones has written in with the first of a series that explores the history of Mr. Alan Turing, and his connection with digital computing.

Comments

King's College - Turing's College

[MikeCamel]

I went to King's College Cambridge, where Turing has the computer room named after him, and where, like one of the college's other famous sons, Rupert Brooke, he is certainly remembered, and respected. Cryptonomicon and Turing: The Enigma are both excellent reads, but we should remember the three places where his name really should live on: first, the Turing Test (for AI), second, in the Turing Machine, and third, in the the Church-Turing hypothesis.

Alan wasn't the first scientist to be gay - though he was one of the first high-profile scientists to die at least partly as the result of his sexuality. I'm not sure whether he would have made a good poster child (as our US cousins would put it), but he was a fascinating person, and a great one. He was certainly one of the founders of our community - I wonder how he would feel about it now?

turing memorial

[PlanetJIM]

I was wondering if anybody else here thought the statue at the Turing Memorial in Manchester is just a little bit morbid? Honestly, I was offended at first and the statue made me think more deeply about the many populations that owe Turing a debt of gratitude, but still... Maybe looking at the apple was just a little bit too much for me. Couldn't he have had a book TOO?