Alan Turing Papers On Code Breaking Released By GCHQ

peetm writes "Two 70-year-old papers by Alan Turing on the theory of code breaking have been released by the government's communications headquarters, GCHQ. It is believed Turing wrote the papers while at Bletchley Park working on breaking German Enigma codes. A GCHQ mathematician said the fact that the contents had been restricted 'shows what a tremendous importance it has in the foundations of our subject.'"

Comments

Alan Turing's Work

[alanmeyer]

Alan Turing's work continues to demonstrate "what a tremendous importance it has in the foundations" of computing technology in general, not just crypto.

Re:Alan Turing's Work

[spongman]

yes, noteworthy in that he showed it's possible to be gay, be persecuted by neanderthals and still be one of the most influential thinkers of our time.

thankfully he's wasn't also a stupid fucking slashdot troll, or we might all be Nazis right now.

Re:Alan Turing's Work

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, I'm so hurt because a fag defender cried about my post. The dude was a fudge packing pervert. Get over it

Given all the evidence about the negative health effects of smoking, I can't see how anybody can defend fags these days.
Especially by, of all people, those who work in food/confection preparation and service jobs.

Re:Alan Turing's Work

[Nidi62]

The self sacrifice of that "fudge packer", along with the sacrifice of millions of other men and women, is what kept the 1000 Year Reich from even reaching 10.

Re:Alan Turing's Work

[Roachie]

When I hear Alan Turing I think code breaking, computer science, cutting edge math. When AC hears Alan Turing he thinks... gay sex. Me thinks thou doth protest too much.

Re:Alan Turing's Work

[abigsmurf]

Nope, the Soviets. After WW2 they found all the abandoned Enigma machines, realised how advanced they were and decided to use them themselves. It's one of the reasons it took so long for Turing's work to be declassified.

Re:Alan Turing's Work

[MarkvW]

I fully agree with your post, but it was all so stupid. Turing was a super-high value espionage target even after his security clearance was revoked.

And his sexual tendencies didn't get in the way of Turing's assistance in a real, shooting, war--where the very existence of GB was at stake.

When the WWII ended and the obligatory continuing war was just a "cold" war, the elite figured they could dispense with him, and they did.

Re:No direct links in the TFA

[Anonymous Coward]

Via ZDNet:
Paper on statistics of repetitions
Report on the applications of probability to cryptography

British Governments Crime

[Anonymous Coward]

I love how Turing articles never mention what the British did to him. Still makes me sick every time I think about it.

This is how humans treat their best and brightest.

Re:British Governments Crime

[dmomo]

Most people? You must be new here.

Re:British Governments Crime

[_Shad0w_]

I'm British and I didn't do anything to him. I repeatedly point out what the British government of the time did to him - I don't care if he technically took his own life, the government killed him after all they did to him.

It should be noted it wasn't just him they did it to, they did the same thing to lots of homosexual men. People just care/notice more about it with him because he did such high profile war work. I'm sure you can find examples of anonymous homosexual men who received similar treatment and served during the war in more routine capacities.

Genius recognition

[tomhath]

"Alan Turing just had brilliant ideas way ahead of their time which were terribly important to the future of the world if you like," Mr Harper said.

I kinda wish geniuses like Turing were rewarded as well as a second string shortstop or bench warming basketball player.

Re:No direct links in the TFA

[GumphMaster]

The two papers are now available to view at the National Archives at Kew, west London.

Published is a very broad term.
Paper on statistics of repetitions by A M Turing
Report on the applications of probability to cryptography by A M Turing

Re:No direct links in the TFA

[Endovior]

Available to the public =/= full text freely available online. You need to show up in person and request access, or submit a form online requesting access, paying a fee either way. I don't really want to create an account with the national archives just for the purpose of seeing how big that fee is; but if any UK slashdotters are interested enough to go through that process and order a copy, it would be interesting to know just how much they're charging.

Re:No direct links in the TFA

[JaneTheIgnorantSlut]

Turing is probably spinning in his grave trying to decode the meaning of the words "available" and "public" in the archive's announcements.

TPB

[Tokolosh]

I am going to The Pirate Bay now. If the papers are not there, I shall be sorely disappointed.

Re:I think 30 million dead Russians had something

[_Shad0w_]

He, along with others, shortened the length of the war. So you had 30 million dead Russian instead of 60, 90, or god knows how many million dead Russians. And dead various other nationalities come to that. I'd say they both mattered, one shortened the war, one ensured it wasn't lost in the mean time.

Re:No direct links in the TFA

[blind biker]

Medium option: Paper copies

Why didn't you order the digital, downloadable option? I did, and they estimate came back to 0 (i.e. free).

That said, I still don't have a link for the download.

It wasn't the importance

[joss]

They had to wait for the statue of limitations to run out otherwise he could have been posthumously deported to US for DMCA violations.

Yes he was a fudge packer

[steve.cri]

He packed fudge up Dönitz and Hitler's ass so hard they cried uncle!

Re:I think 30 million dead Russians had something

[Nidi62]

Notice I said "the sacrifice of millions of other men and women". Yes, that includes the Russians. I didn't say "millions of British" or any other nationality for that matter. Would you prefer it if I mentioned every nationality that fought with the Allies in WWII? The contributions of the Australians, the Indians, the Canadians, the brave Polish, Dutch, and French resistance members, numerous other states, even the people of Crete were just as important as that of Russia, because while they may not have contributed in the numbers the Russians did, they were willing to dedicated their lives, and in many cases gave their lives, in order to keep the world free. To pick out and name one nationality would be wrong.