As usual Google
doesn’t disappoint. In the doodle celebrating the 100th birthday of Alan Turing
they have created an animation reflecting the great man’s work. It’s also true
unless you’ve studied university mathematics and/or computer science it’s
probably something not immediately familiar.
The Google guys
are no hacks by any means and have not only pulled together a brilliant doodle,
it’s also at once a turning engine and a piece of cryptography challenging us
to crack. For those who know of Turning will know he was an exceptionally
gifted mathematician, computer scientist and code breaker, whose Turing Machine
was the basis for so much in computing.
There is a photo
of Turning in my office amongst much clutter – from time to time when I come
across it, I’m reminded just how great his loss is to the world, and of the bigotry
he endured in very dark days.
For in an act of
utter disgrace, for which the British government only apologized in 2009,
Turing was prosecuted for homosexuality in 1952. He was chemically castrated
and died in 1954 at the age of 41 after biting into an apple laced with
cyanide.
Turning helped
crack the German Enigma code, a great step toward bringing a successful end to
World War II. In return, he was prosecuted for gross indecency and given the
choice of prison or experimental chemical castration. He chose the latter. His
conviction meant he could no longer work for the British government.
Click below for the solution to the doodle.
By the way, the
text “Google” is 01000111 01101111 01101111 01100111 01101100 01100101 in
binary.
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