Alan Turing and the Colossus Computer

Science / Scientists Datebook: June 23

 

Brief history of the Colossus Computer, and a profile of Alan Turing, the scientist who headed the team that decoded the German's Enigma Code, and the cryptographer behind it.

Alan Turing, a mathematical and scientific wizard, is considered the father of modern computer science. He worked as a cryptographer decoding codes in one of the British government's top-secret location at Bletchley Park. Military historians say that Turing's work in breaking the Enigma code machine used by the Germans used during World War II shortened the war by two to three years, aside from saving lives and averting more catastrophe from happening.

 

Early Life

Alan Mathison Turing was born in London on June 23, 1912. Early on in his life, he showed his interest in science and scientific genius was evident. In 1931, he entered King's College, Cambridge University, where he focused on mathematics and re-creating the work of other scientists.

At one point, he started to develop a digital computer dubbed the "Turing machine." The key was to instruct the computer properly and then for it to perform the tasks. He believed that an "algorithm" could be developed to solve any problem.

The Enigma Code Machine

During the 1920s, the Germans created the Enigma code machine, which led them to believe that their coded messages concerning military and other top secret operations were beyond being decoded. The machine, which resembled a typewriter, was capable of doing millions of calculations in milliseconds, and the secret codes that controlled them were regularly changed everyday.

Enters Turing's "Colossus" 

However in the 1930s, Polish mathematicians had obtained a machine and started to try to break it as they felt it might be a good asset against any invasion, in particular, a most likely invasion from the Germans.

Turing undertook the construction work of a special-purpose electronic machine all the  way. In January 1943, he headed up a team of scientists whose specific goal was to try to break Enigma's code. To do so, the team developed a computer – called the "Colossus" comprising 1,500 vacuum tubes. Improved models were later installed. Experts today think that a total of 10 Colossuses were built. The fact that it helped break the Enigma code was the breakthrough that instantly became the greatest secret of the Second World War. This meant that the Allies knew exactly what the Germans planned to do before they did it, an utmost important as it helped the Allies decide where to invade on D day.

The Turing Test

After the war, Turing worked on various machines that would replace or supersede human intelligence, the inspiration said to be the loss of a young love in his life. He wrote a paper in 1950 now known as the "Turing test," which evaluates a machine's intelligence, a test still considered the standard by which mechanical intelligence is evaluated. 

The genius vs. his personal life

His homosexuality was not an issue during the war, but in general, it was looked down after the war as the political and emotional landscape changed with the development of Great Britain's alliance with the United States and the development of the Cold War. 

He might have been feted and revered for what he did, and yet, at the age of 42, his heart broken and his mind in disarray due to the loss of his security clearance – apparently due to his homosexuality - he ended his life and committed suicide. What a waste of his intellect to humanity. 

Turing's legacy

The Colossus computer was one of the world's earliest programmable electronic digital computers. Today Turing's computer designs, as he described them, are still what computer specialists utilize. During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre that produced Ultra intelligence. For a time he led Hut 8, the section that was responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for speeding the breaking of German ciphers, including improvements to the pre-war "Polish bombe method", an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine. He played a pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic, therefore, helped win the war.   

 

Photo credit:

Alan Turing. Wikipedia Commons / Public Domain. Alan Turing (1912-1954) in 1936 at Princeton University. 

Resources:

Alan Turing. en.wikipedia.org

Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers, 2002

Quantum Leaps by Jon Balchin, Capella, London, 2004 

The 100 Greatest Inventions of All Time, by Ton Philbin, Citadel Press, New York, 2003

 

(c) June 2009. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.