Q:alliance

Codebreaker, architect of the algorithm and modern computation, artificial intelligence  contributor and gay man Alan Turing was born today in 1912.

During the Second World War, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, Britain’s codebreaking centre, and was for a time head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of thebombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.

Turing was living in an era when homosexuality was still both illegal and officially considered a mental illness. Subsequent to his being outed, he was criminally prosecuted, which essentially ended his career. He died not long after from what was officially declared self-induced cyanide poisoning, although his mother (and some others) considered the circumstances of his death to be ambiguous.

To find out more about Alan Turing, visit Turing.org.uk, or take the time to visit the wonderful Bletchley Park.

(Text adapted from Wikipedia)