Alan turing

His ideas led to early versions of modern computing and helped win World War II. Yet he died as a criminal for his homosexuality.

ALAN TURiNG

Alan Turing, mathematician and computer scientist, with profound contributions in computing and cryptography, faced tragic circumstances.

"The Imitation Game" poster

It is hard to overstate the importance of Alan Turing, the British mathematician who died in 1954. He was a hero in science, for one. Turing invented the concepts that underlie modern computers and artificial intelligence. And he was a hero in war: He was a vital part of the British cryptographic team at Bletchley Park that cracked the German Enigma code during World War II.

Jordan Sokol on Instagram: “Extremely honored to have my portrait of Alan Turing unveiled last night at @princeton University. Its been humbling to paint such a…”

History in Color on Instagram: “Alan Turing, English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was a pioneer in…”

Alan Turing presents 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 was based on his ideas.