Alan Turing

Alan Mathison Turing was a British pioneering computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, mathematical biologist, and marathon and ultra distance runner. He was highly influential in the development of computer science. During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre. Turing's pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic; it has been estimated that the work at Bletchley Park shortened the war in Europe by as many as two to four years. Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts, when such behaviour was still criminalised in the UK. He accepted treatment with oestrogen injections (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison. Turing died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death a suicide, but it has since been noted that the known evidence is equally consistent with accidental poisoning. In 2009, following an Internet campaign, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made an official public apology on behalf of the British government for 'the appalling way he was treated'. Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous pardon in 2013. (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Statue of Alan Turing Proposed be Permanently Placed on London’s Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square

The Fourth plinth has no permanent display, instead serving as a showcase for commissioned contemporary art installations.

By
Tessa Solomon
Jul 20, 2023 5:16 pm

A woman in a white jacket touches one of many coils on a machine resembling a large grid.

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Antony Gormley’s Alan Turing Memorial to Grace King’s College, Antiquities Collector Faces Charges, and More: Morning Links for August 9, 2022

Here's what we're reading this morning.

By
The Editors of ARTnews
Aug 9, 2022 8:02 am

Bonhams Sends Early Computing Artifacts Auction

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Bonhams Sends Early Computing Artifacts to Auction

The fine books and manuscripts auction at Bonhams New York on April 13 will feature a number of computing relics, the house announced today, including a recently discovered 56-page handwritten

By
Hannah Ghorashi
Mar 16, 2015 1:24 pm

Alan Turing

Statue of Alan Turing Proposed be Permanently Placed on London’s Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square

Antony Gormley’s Alan Turing Memorial to Grace King’s College, Antiquities Collector Faces Charges, and More: Morning Links for August 9, 2022

Bonhams Sends Early Computing Artifacts to Auction

Newswire

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