Alan Turing: An Unsung Hero Of World War II

Abstract: - An unsung hero of World War II was born on June 23, 1912 in London, Alan Mathison Turing was an innovative thinker, computer scientist and mathematician. He was not recognized for his contributions to our society until after his death and many pardons later. He was especially prominent in the development of theoretical computer science. He is widely known for his 1936 paper which introduced the “Turing Machine.” His work also made substantial contributions in the area of artificial intelligence and has set the foundation for research in this area. Other areas of interest which he contributed to included cryptology and theoretical biology.

Key-Words: - Computer Science, Enigma Machine, Mathematician, Turing Test, Artificial Intelligence

1 Introduction
Alan Mathison Turing (see Fig. 1) was born in Maida Vale, London, England. As a young child, he portrayed signs of intelligence. Although, his intelligence was recognized, some of the teachers did not respect it. As a young student he became specifically interested in the field of mathematics and science. From 1931-1934, Turing attended University of Cambridge where
He also produced a detailed design of the ACE or Automatic Computing Engine. This computing machine stored programs in its memory. He reported this machine should have unlimited range of applications and wrote about software development. The prototype was never finished because he quit the company before it was piloted. He laid the groundwork for all computers we use today. Alan opened up the ideas of Artificial Intelligence and the thought that a computer could one day think for itself. The Turing test for AI is used today and is thought it will be used for many years to come. Turing also explored biological patterns, spots, stripes and flower petals and patterns in nature during his last