The genius who changed the times could not escape the tragic fate, review the legendary life of the
He is a genius who has profoundly changed the times. He built a theoretical model of modern computers at the age of 24. He was a valiant hero who saved thousands of lives, obtained key intelligence for the Allies, and changed the tide of the Atlantic War. His life is full of lamentable regrets. As a homosexual, he was treated unfairly in his life, and finally ended his tragic life because of a bitten apple. His research has given new life to artificial intelligence and led to changes in the entire world. He is the outstanding British mathematician and logician - Alan Turing.
- Alan Turing -
Today, let us review his short but legendary life together.
Alan Turing was born in London in 1912. He showed outstanding mathematical talent since he was a child. While still in middle school, he wrote a brief summary of Einstein's theory of relativity to explain to his mother. In 1932, Turing entered King's College, Cambridge University, where he fully demonstrated his mathematical talent, won a science scholarship with his outstanding performance, and published many important papers. In 1936, he was invited to study at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, USA, and then returned to the UK in 1938 to continue his in-depth study of mathematical logic and computational theory. At the same time, he also started the research and development of computers. However, World War II interrupted his research program.
In 1939, Turing was enlisted to join the Communications Department of the British Foreign Office and engaged in military work, mainly responsible for deciphering enemy codes. In this process, the biggest challenge he faced was the "Enigma" cipher machine, which has 159 trillion ways to crack it, and the key is reset at midnight every day. By manual calculation alone, even if ten people work continuously for 24 hours, it will take 20 million years to complete the task. However, as a military intelligence job, the encrypted message must be deciphered within 20 minutes, otherwise all efforts will be in vain. In two years of code-breaking research, Turing firmly believed that only machines can defeat machines. He argued that since humans cannot decipher these encrypted messages quickly enough, a machine should be created to rival them. It was against this background that Turing's "Turing Bomb" was born. With the continuous improvement of technology and the capture of the German codebook, in 1940, the British army successfully deciphered the encrypted message of the German "Enigma" through the "Turing Bomb", which won a huge advantage for subsequent battles. Many people believe that it was the deciphering of "Enigma" that allowed the Allied forces to win the "World War II" two years in advance.
In 1945, at the end of World War II, Turing was awarded the British Empire Medal for his outstanding achievements in code breaking. In the next 8 years, he devoted himself to the research of applying computers to the field of mathematics, proposed the early theory of artificial intelligence, and also proposed the famous "Turing test", which explored the boundaries between humans and machines.
However, although he should have been shrouded in honor, Turing fell into a trough in his life because of a theft. His lover and accomplices broke into his residence to commit theft, which resulted in Turing having to report the case to the police. During the investigation, Turing's homosexuality was revealed and he was convicted of indecent assault. Although he could have gone to prison, he chose to undergo hormone therapy in order to continue his beloved computer research. However, hormone therapy had a devastating effect on his willpower. In 1954, Turing was found dead at home with a bitten apple on his bedside. Police investigations confirmed that he committed suicide by cyanide poisoning. At this moment, people don't know that he was a OBE, that he was a hero who saved thousands of lives, or that he was a brilliant mathematician at Cambridge University. All they knew was that he was a gay man who was not accepted by society. Over the years, many well-known scientists have rehabilitated him. It was not until 2013, more than half a century later, that Turing was granted an amnesty by the Queen of England. However, he never had a crime that required an amnesty, it just delayed the world's recognition of his greatness by more than 50 years.
