I would like you to imagine that it is the year 1940. You are on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean carrying supplies to the United Kingdom from the United States. Germany had only started World War II only a year ago, yet the shock and horror felt around the world was enough for a lifetime. However, at the current moment, in the Atlantic, you are concerned not with the war on land but with the war at sea. This concern should be especially present because of the Germans’ U-boats, an early version of a submarine. Since they could go underwater for two hours at a time, U-boats could be undetected by a ship. Thus, the U-boats could sink a vessel without that vessel having any way to prepare or defend itself. Even when the U-boats were not underwater, the allies could not locate them because the Germans used a very complex encryption system with their messages. These U-boats left many sailors too afraid to sleep at night for fear that they might wake up when a torpedo hit their ship.
Although the U-boats presented a formidable challenge for the allies to overcome, there was one scientist in the United Kingdom who would help mitigate the risk of U-boats in the Atlantic. This scientist was Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician and computer scientist. Alan Turing worked at Bletchley Park, the center of the British message intelligence gathering effort for World War II, on decrypting the Germans’ naval encryption system. This encryption system was called Enigma, and it is one of the most complex encryption systems to have ever been invented. Alan Turing was one of most influential people at Bletchley Park and his work most likely shortened World War II by a few years.
At Bletchley Park, Alan Turing had two major accomplishments. His first major accomplishment was improving the processes for breaking different versions of Enigma by developing more efficient techniques for decryption. This work, however, is not what he is remembered for by most people. Instead, Alan Turing is remembered for his second major accomplishment at Bletchley Park, the building of the Bombe. The Bombe was a machine that we would today call a computer. While it was not exactly constructed with the materials that computers are made with today, it still calculated large sums and was able to analyze data faster than any human could. Due to its analytical prowess, the Bombe was able to decrypt messages at such an astonishing rate that the British were able to have usable intelligence by tea time every day. Alan Turing was the main designer and creator of the Bombe, although he did have a good amount of help from his colleagues, and it is thanks to him that a lot of work at Bletchley Park was successful. Due to his work at Bletchley, and the work he did earlier, Alan Turing is considered one of the fathers of computer science.
After the war was over, Alan Turing went back to his work of researching computer science and mathematics. He would go on to work on the Automatic Computing Engine at the United Kingdom’s National Physical Laboratory. Many people see the Automatic Computing Engine as the forerunner of the modern computer. Also, Alan Turing wrote a paper about artificial intelligence. Specifically, he designed a test to see if a computer could be defined as intelligent or not. Today, this test is known by the name “The Turing Test”.
Sadly, Alan Turing’s life came to an abrupt end in 1954 when he committed suicide. Two years prior, he was found guilty of homosexuality which at the time was illegal in the United Kingdom. He was forced to undergo hormonal treatments and chemical castration in order to avoid a prison sentence. Due to the pressure he underwent after his arrest and the treatments forced on him, Alan Turing resolved to commit suicide. It is a shame that such an exceptional man died before he could make more contributions to humanity. Imagine what technology we could have had today if we were simply more accepting of our fellow human beings.
Sources
“Alan Turing FAQs.” Bletchley Park, https://bletchleypark.org.uk/our-story/alan-turing-faqs/. Accessed 23 March 2024.
“Alan Turing’s Legacy | LGBT History Month | Royal British Legion.” The Royal British Legion, https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/stories/alan-turing-s-legacy-codebreaking-computing-and-turing-s-law. Accessed 23 March 2024.
“The Turing-Welchman Bombe — The National Museum of Computing.” The National Museum of Computing, https://www.tnmoc.org/bombe. Accessed 23 March 2024.
“U-boats | Definition, Background & Facts.” Study.com, https://study.com/academy/lesson/u-boats-definition-facts.html. Accessed 23 March 2024.
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