Lesson: Biographies/AlanTuring
Biographies
Alan Turing
Early Life
Alan Mathison Turing was born on June 23, 1912, in London, England. Already at a young age, he displayed signs of high intelligence. When Turing attended Sherborne School at the age of 13, he became very interested in math and science.
After Sherborne, Turing enrolled at King's College (University of Cambridge) in Cambridge, eventually becoming a fellow at the school after his graduation.
In 1936, Turing delivered a paper in which he presented the notion of a universal machine (later called the "Turing machine") capable of computing anything that is computable: The central concept of the modern computer.
Cryptanalysis and Early Computers
During World War II, Turing made significant contributions to the code-breaking of German ciphers, which helped shorten the war.
In the mid-1940s, Turing led the design work for the Automatic Computing Engine and ultimately created a groundbreaking blueprint for store-program computers which influenced the design of the world’s first personal computer.
In 1950 he published a paper, "Computing machinery and intelligence," proposing an experiment that has significantly influenced debates over artificial intelligence.
Homosexuality, Conviction and Death
In the early 1950s Turing was charged with gross indecency for being gay, which was illegal in England at the time and had to choose between receiving hormonal treatment (which would leave him impotent) or imprisonment. He chose the treatment.
As a result of his conviction, Turing's security clearance was removed and he was barred from continuing his work with cryptography.
Turing died on June 7, 1954, supposedly having committed suicide by eating a poisoned apple, however, it has been argued that his death might have been an accident.
Awards, Recognition and Apology
After World War II, Turing was honored in a number of ways. In 1999, Time magazine named him one of its "100 Most Important People of the 20th century," and he has been recognized for his impact on computer science, with many crediting him as the "founder" of the field.
In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on behalf of the British government, posthumously apologized to Turing for prosecuting him as a homosexual.
Talk a little about...
Prejudice against homosexuals had a deep impact in the life of one of the great geniuses of the 20th century. What prejudices do we still have in our own society? Are you guilty of having prejudices as well? How do we avoid having prejudice? Have you ever been a victim of prejudice?
Expressions
Read the examples below and then make a few sentences with each expression.
end up
- He wanted to be a doctor but ended up a lawyer.
- After backpacking around Europe for a few months, we ended up finding a nice place to live in the south of France.
give up for adoption
- She could not raise her son and had to give him up for adoption.
- He was given up for adoption and never got to meet his biological parents.
take apart
- He took the television apart and then rebuilt it.
- He took the clock apart and didn't know how to put it back together.
drop out
- He dropped out of the photography class because he didn't like the teacher.
- She decided to drop out of college and go work at a restaurant.
drop in
This expression is very uncommon and we're only explaining it here because it's used in the Steve Jobs' quote. So, don't worry about having to use it.
- He drops in the class even though he's not enrolled.
True or False
Practice
Read the following sentences. Then change them to the negative and interrogative form.
- He was born in 1955.
- He was born in San Francisco.
- He was born in California.
- He was born in February.
- He was born on the 24th.
- He got married in 1970.
- He wanted to get married in 1970.
- She signed the adoption papers.
- She allowed the Jobs to adopt Steve.
- They promised to provide him with a college education.
- He learned how to take things apart.
- He learned how to rebuild things.
- He started to work at Atari.
- His mother taught him to read.
- He went to Reed College.
- The school officials recommended Jobs skip two years.
- Jobs' parents allowed him to skip only one year.
- He chose to drop out of college.
- He chose to drop in the Calligraphy class as an auditing student.
- He skipped one grade.
- He graduated high school in 1972.
- His parents could afford to pay for his college.
- His father worked as a mechanic.
- His mother worked as an accountant.
Conversation
- How were you as a child? Did your parents and teachers understand you?
Lifehacks
Lifehack: What do you think about this lifehack? Will it be useful to you?
Quotes
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” -- Steve Jobs
Exercise
Write a few paragraphs commenting on the Steve Jobs quote above. Do you agree with him? Do you have examples from your life? When can this be a bad advice? What do you need to do in your life in order to be able to focus and simplify things?
References
Comments
Did you have any difficulties? Learn anything interesting? Comment below so you can share your knowledge with other students.
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