Apologies to Turing 5 Sep 20094 Oct 2017 The Twentieth Century was a century of geniuses, but the greatest of all, in my opinion, was Alan Turing. Turing invented, both the logic and the first hardware, the computer you are now using to read this post. More than any other invention, Turing’s changed our world; more than Gutenberg, more than Morse, more than Alexander Graham Bell. But he also did a lot more… Turing used his mathematical skills to break the Nazi ciphers, at Bletchley Park. As a result the Allies were able to anticipate where they would need to place supplies and war machinery. It is not extreme to say that if any one man won the European war, it was Turing. He wrote a famous paper in 1950 that started the Artificial Intelligence discipline, along with the philosophy that followed it. Mostly, though, he invented our current notion of computation. His reward? Because the work at Bletchley Park was covered by the official secrets act, and their work destroyed after the war, Turing never received public recognition. Being gay, a crime at the time, he was convicted of the crime of solicitation, and as part of his punishment he elected to take chemical castration. He was excluded from all subsequent work on computers as a security risk – the man who won the war for the Allies. He took his own life by eating an apple laced with cyanide (probably). Now there is a petition for the British Government to make a formal apology to him, and an international petition for non-British subjects (which I have signed). It’s purely symbolic, but we should recognise him in the public arena, and not just in the world of academic history (the best of which is Hodges 1983 biography). Hodges, Andrew. 1983. Alan Turing: the enigma. New York: Simon and Schuster. History Philosophy Technology
Evolution Myth 3: Darwin was a Lamarckian 16 Feb 2009 Myth 3: Darwin was actually a Lamarckian This one is subtle. It implies that Darwin, because he lacked a Mendelian account of heredity, was not actually a “true” (or Neo-)Darwinian. The error depends on the extent of what is named as a school of thought in science and why. Read More
Philosophy Mill on philosophical errors 13 Nov 2009 A fundamental error is seldom expelled from philosophy by a single victory. It retreats slowly, defends every inch of ground, and often, after it has been driven from the open country, retains a footing in some remote fastness. The essences of individuals were an unmeaning figment arising from a misapprehension… Read More
Politics Various divers thingies 6 May 20094 Oct 2017 My union is calling a strike next Tuesday. I’m not sure what to do. I don’t teach, and have no administrative duties, so should I stop thinking from for 8 hours? I’m not sure the administration would notice… Rob Skipper at hpb etc. has a series of podcasts from the… Read More
Thanks for pointing this out! Signed. I visited Bletchley Park and felt both humbled and honoured to wander around the same grounds. Idea: a website badge with the slogan “If you can read this, thank Alan Turing.”
Thanks, here’s my impression which I put in the comments section of the online petition (for what it’s worth!): It is well known how important Turing’s contribution was. As a student of cognitive science and philosophy of science though, I am especially priviledged to see how his notions of computation and philosophy of mind remain cutting edge all the way until today. Which makes his treatment during his life incredibly stupid (since he would have contributed so much more) in addition to being immoral (which it was regardless of his contributions).
Not sure of the worth of these petitions, but it is a fair cause so my name is added. Another case of the UK shooting itself in the foot.
I think there must have been a telepathic essence of Turing in the air last night. Whilst sitting half watching the brain-narcotisiser late yesterday evening I saw a preview for the film Enigma and thought to myself I ought to blog tomorrow about why I refuse to watch this film. As John got there before me I have decided to add what I wanted to say here as a comment. As a mathematician, logic historian, historian of computing and supported of the gay rights movement I too am a big Alan Turing fan; as a side note if you haven’t already read it Andrew Hodges’ Turing biography is one of the best scientific biographies I have ever read. Now The story of the cracking of the Enigma Code has been filmed twice in recent years, once by the Americans, U-571 (2000), and once by the British (2001); and I absolutely refuse to watch either of them because both films are a direct insult to the memory of Turing and his fellow workers in Bletchly Park. I can’t actually decide which of the two is more insulting, U-571 that claims it was the Americans who captured a navy Enigma machine and broke the code, a total fiction, or Enigma that portrays the character who is obviously Turing, although his name is not used, as heterosexual. In the end I think that the British effort is actually more insulting, the American film is just a piece of typical chauvinistic ahistorical American rubbish about fictional American heroes saving the world. The British film, however, deliberately turns one of the few high profile homosexual heroes of the Twentieth Century into a heterosexual for the sake of audience compatibility, after all we don’t want to shock the general public do we! I find this totally despicable and will never sully my eyes or my brain with this anti-gay piece of junk. p.s. I signed.
Neither will I. The treatment of Turing, and the fact that he isn’t recognized as probably one of the most influential human beings of all time, is an astounding injustice. What’s needed, more than anything else, is for the mainstream media to do more to educate the public as to this man’s extraordinary contributions. In a just world, he would be sitting next to the likes of Galileo, Newton, Darwin and Einstein.
Signed, for what it’s worth. I did see “Enigma” when it was new, because I didn’t know how dishonest it would be. Shameful.
In fairness, U-571 outright states that it’s a fictional account and notes that the Enigma machine was captured by Brits in its postscript. It’s a heavily fictionalized bit of action movie, not to be taken so seriously. On a more important note, can anyone recommend a good Turing biography? There seem to be several to choose from and I’d prefer to avoid falling prey to bad history.
The postscript was first added after the storm of protest emanating from Britain when the film was first released.