Alan
Turing was born June 23rd, 1912 in Maida Vale and died June 7th, 1954 in
Wilmslow. He was a British mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer
scientist and attended Campbridge and Princeton University. Turing is
essentially known for inventing the computer by a paper he wrote in graduate school called "On Computable Numbers". He also worked as a cryptographer
for the British Foreign Policy and broke a German Enigma code during WW2 that
helped the path to the D-day invasion. Something not very known about Turing is that
he was gay. In 1954 being homosexual was illegal and the government made him
decide between imprisonment or hormonal treatment. He was then forced to take
estrogen which made him develop breasts and other side effects to punish or
"cure" him. He later committed suicide by biting into a cyanide
apple. It is said that this was the inspiration for the logo of Apple
computers.
Wow, that's really interesting about how apple's computers logo is from his method of suicide.
ReplyDeleteWhat a tragically interesting story. It amazes me that someone so accomplished and brilliant could be reduced to such shame and humiliation soley for his sexual preference. Hopefully whoever decided on the Apple for the logo meant it as an honor and tribute for him. Thanks for sharing!
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