Reviewed
Apr 25 2007
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1 review
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we remember, acknowlege and appreciate
• bbc.co.uk
If it were not for this man, many of us would not be here today.
"One can say that Turing bridged the gap between logic and the physical world. Thought and action. Computer programs and practical machinery. But it was Turing's secretive work for the British Government during World War II that allowed Turing the opportunity to use his genuis for another cause-the saving of lives. While German U-Boats prowled the North Atlantic sinking British ships at will, Turing was hard at work at the British cryptanalytic headquarters at Bletchley Park. At Bletchley, Turing designed machines that would help crack the German "Enigma" code. Once broken, the Allies were able to shift the balance of the war in the North Atlantic.
After the war Turing published "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"-considered a seminal work dealing with Artificial Intelligence and Philosophy. Turing also ventured into the area of morphogenisis-the theory of growth and form in biology. Turing was also dealing with a machine's ability to think, and the possibility of building intelligent machines.
Turing was not only a brilliant scientist but an accomplished long distance runner who once considered entering the Olympics as a cross country runner. Solitary and nonconformist, Turing was to suffer the inglorious misfortune of being arrested for being a homosexual. Ultimately, Turing was denied the security clearance that allowed him his work in cipher intelligence with the British Government. He was tried and punished by a British Court in 1952."
Good enough to save lives, but not good enough to love who he wants. What insanity to allow paraniod beliefs of morality impact on the needs of a nation at war.