Alan Turing

The CODE-BREAKER who invented the computer age

Englishman Alan Turing not only helped to turn the tide of World War II, but also developed the idea of the modern computer.

Turing, aged 13, with his school friends

The Germans changed codes every day using the Enigma machine.

A maths genius

Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician. In 1936, while still at the University of Cambridge, he outlined his theory of a UNIVERSAL MACHINE. This was a device that could solve any problem using a set of coded instructions that were stored in its memory – an idea that paved the way for modern computer science.

What came before…

In the 1820s, English mathematician Charles Babbage designed and partially built a mechanical calculator called the Difference engine. This device used arithmetical addition, and was powered by cranking a handle. American inventor Herman Hollerith

During World War II, Turing joined the code-breakers working at a top-secret British base, Bletchley Park. The Germans were using a typewriter-like device called the Enigma machine to transmit coded military messages. Turing and his colleague Gordon Welchman developed the BOMBE machine to decode these messages. The machine played a crucial role in the victory of Allied forces over Germany.

The Bombe machine worked out every possible combination of Enigma codes.

Did you know? Turing could solve advanced mathematical problems by the age of 14.

built the first tabulating anD sorting machine in 1889. It used punched cards to record and process data; a clerk would sit at a desk and insert cards into the machine.

This was the console for controlling the operations.

By the way… I wrote the first ever chess computer program. I called it Turbochamp.

Onto computers

After the war, Turing produced a design for a computer – the Automatic

Computing Engine (ACE). Although it was never built, it led to the production of the world’s first general-purpose computer called the Pilot ACE in 1950. Turing also researched whether a computer is a thinking machine, and created an experiment called the TURING TEST – a method to see whether a machine has human-like intelligence.

How he changed the world

Turing’s code-breaking work shortened the war, saving millions of lives. His idea of an intelligent machine turned into a reality with the development of computers by the end of the 20th century.

What came after...

In 1958, American engineers Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce

unveiled the integrated circuit – the first working microchip. Without this tiny device we would not have personal computers or mobile phones. The first home computer, the apple i, was built by Americans

Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in 1975. User-friendly and cheap, Apple computers revolutionized the home computer industry.