Alan Turing - Without him I could not have posted this.

[davieG]

Alan Turing: why the tech world's hero should be a household name

[Fox92]

Hero. Learnt about him when I studied IT at college.

[accessory]

Indeed.

We should give him the recognition that he should have enjoyed during his lifetime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing

[James.]

In terms of the WWII code breaking effort there are others less known than Turing that contributed as much if not more.

People like Bill Tutte are relatively unknown compared to Turing but true heroes of that time. I find the whole thing fascinating and plan to visit Bletchley Park later in the year.

Bill Tutte

http://en.wikipedia....iki/W._T._Tutte

Tommy Flowers

http://en.wikipedia....i/Tommy_Flowers

That said Turing obviously deserves huge praise and recognition for his achievements. And people should also be aware of the horrific post-war treatment he received after being criminally convicted for being gay, undergoing a form of chemical castration to "treat" him and his subsequent suicide aged only 41.

[Fox92]

I find the whole thing fascinating and plan to visit Bletchley Park later in the year.

I'd like to visit Bletchley Park. College always said we'd have a day trip there, but it never happened.

[Trav Le Bleu]

Without Alan Turing?

Someone else would have done it eventually in his absence.

[Daggers]

Gay cultural icon, huh?

Any particular reason why the BBC chooses to include this? Is Charles Babbage a straight cultural icon? Was Herman Hollerith a heterosexual hero?

[Webbo]

Without Alan Turing?

Someone else would have done it eventually in his absence.

Gay cultural icon, huh?

Any particular reason why the BBC chooses to include this? Is Charles Babbage a straight cultural icon? Was Herman Hollerith a heterosexual hero?

Yup and yup.

[leicsmac]

TBF Trav and Daggers Turing was probably the leading light in breaking the Enigma code during WW2, and he came up with ideas that no one else could at the time....and that alone saved many lives.

Also the persecution he suffered after the war on account of his sexuality was utterly reprehensible, given how much he had given to his country during his life. I'm glad that it has now been apologised for in public.

He deserves to be remembered more than he is.

[Daggers]

TBF Trav and Daggers Turing was probably the leading light in breaking the Enigma code during WW2, and he came up with ideas that no one else could at the time....and that alone saved many lives.

Also the persecution he suffered after the war on account of his sexuality was utterly reprehensible, given how much he had given to his country during his life. I'm glad that it has now been apologised for in public.

He deserves to be remembered more than he is.

I know the full life and times of Turing - I was just posting to pre-empt and tease Thracian into the thread

That said, his sexuality is only of import post-war and therefore irrelevant to his code cracking skills.

[skinnydipper]

I prefer Alan Measles

[leicsmac]

I know the full life and times of Turing - I was just posting to pre-empt and tease Thracian into the thread

That said, his sexuality is only of import post-war and therefore irrelevant to his code cracking skills.

As for your second sentence...true enough. I think the guy never got enough recognition for the stuff he did both during WW2 and after in any case, gay or no. From what I can tell, he came up with the idea of the 'bombe' pretty much singlehandedly.

And yeah, someone else probably would have arrived at his ideas in due course if he hadn't done so...but you could say that for practically every major Sci/Tech discovery ever (General Relativity excepted, that was practically unique). The advance of computers to their point today is down in a large part to Turing.

[I am Rod Hull]

I know the full life and times of Turing - I was just posting to pre-empt and tease Thracian into the thread

That said, his sexuality is only of import post-war and therefore irrelevant to his code cracking skills.

So cracking secret messages from leather clad German sailors had nothing to do with it?

[Daggers]

So cracking secret messages from leather clad German sailors had nothing to do with it?

No. He was not in the least bit motivated by U-boats full of semen.