Alan Turing

Also known as Alan M. Turing, Alan Mathieson Turing, Turing, Alan Mathison Turing

English computer scientist (1912–1954)

AI overview

Alan Turing was an English computer scientist who lived from 1912 to 1954 and made foundational contributions to the theory of computation and artificial intelligence. His work, including the development of the Turing machine concept, helped establish the mathematical foundations of modern computing and remains central to computer science today.

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Film & TV

Maida Vale, London, England, UK

Alan Mathison Turing OBE FRS (1912–1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalization of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer. He…

Known for

The Man Who Cracked the Nazi Code: The Story of Alan Turing — Self (archive footage)2014

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Gender: male
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Place of death: Wilmslow
Employer: National Physical Laboratory
Languages spoken: English language
Native language: English language
Religion: atheism
Award: Order of the British Empire
Doctoral advisor: Alonzo Church
Student of: Alonzo Church
Doctoral student: Beatrice Helen Worsley
Field of work: cryptography
Sport: athletics
Official website: www.turingarchive.org
Image: Alan Turing (1912-1954) in 1936 at Princeton University.jpg
Residence: Guildford

Show 21 more facts

birth name: Alan Mathison Turing
interested in: foundations of mathematics
sexual orientation: homosexuality
member of: Royal Society
Commons category: Alan Turing
date of death: 1954-06-07
date of birth: 1912-06-23
topic's main category: Category:Alan Turing
Commons gallery: Alan Turing
manner of death: Suicide
Erdős number: 5
name in native language: Alan Mathison Turing
student: Robin Gandy
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
cause of death: cyanide poisoning
described at URL: heritage.humanists.uk/alan-turing
date of burial or cremation: 1954-06-12
influenced by: Max Newman
medical condition: stuttering
maintained by WikiProject: WikiProject Mathematics
P8168: Hyposmocoma cuprea

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Encyclopedic overview

Alan Mathison Turing (/ˈtjʊərɪŋ/; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and theoretical biologist. He was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer. Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science.

Born in London, Turing was raised in southern England. He graduated from King's College, Cambridge, and in 1938, earned a doctorate degree from Princeton University. During World War II, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre that produced Ultra intelligence. He led Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. Turing devised techniques for speeding the breaking of German ciphers, including improvements to the pre-war Polish bomba method, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. He played a crucial role in cracking intercepted messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers in the Battle of the Atlantic and other engagements.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alan Turing” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.