Although it is running until June this year, there is really no time like the present to get yourself along to the Science Museum in London to learn about the life of Alan Turing, one of the most influential figures of the twentieth century, and a pivotal member of the code breakers working at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.
But Alan Turing was not just a codebreaker. This British mathematician was also a philosopher and computing pioneer who grappled with the fundamental problems of life itself. His ideas have helped shape the modern world, including early computer programming and even the seeds of artificial intelligence. This exhibition tells the story of Turing and his most important ideas.At the heart of the exhibition is the Pilot ACE computer, built to Turing’s ground-breaking design. It is the most significant surviving Turing artefact in existence.
After the war, Turing turned his thoughts to the development of a machine that would logically process information. He worked first for the National Physical Laboratory (1945-1948). His plans were dismissed by his colleagues and the lab lost out on being the first to design a digital computer. It is thought that Turing's blueprint would have secured them the honour, as his machine was capable of computation speeds higher than the others. In 1949, he went to Manchester University where he directed the computing laboratory and developed a body of work that helped to form the basis for the field of artificial intelligence. In 1951 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
There is a sequence of exhibits showcasing Turing’s breadth of talent. Together with interactive exhibits, personal recollections and a wealth of historic imagery, the exhibition offers an absorbing retrospective view of one of Britain’s greatest twentieth-century thinkers.
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