h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There are two key events that Alan Turing is known for - in 1936 he wrote "On computable numbers" which introduced the Turing Machine (or state machine)which is fundamental to programmable computers and in 1950 he devised the Turng test which is still sited (in my view incorrectly) as a test for machine intelligence. (This latter is a guide article already.)

You can get the definitive stuff from http://www.museums.reading.ac.uk/vmoc/ but beware his biographer - it is in his interest to talk up Turing to the detrement of the many men and women he worked alongside and in competition with at the time, and he does so.

Also the whole enigma thing is sparking controversy due to the film due out this summer about its capture. History may be "written by the brave", but it is adapted for screen by the accountants

oooh you are a star thank you!

"citimg" not "siting"

"citing", not "citimg" - Gordon's typeface is too small

What a great article!

One thing that might be worth mentioning is that the 'Turing Test' was never intended to be especially profound - it wasn't much more than an off the cuff invention in a debate. For some reason it appeared to capture a lot of people's imagination thought, and the significance which has been heaped on it could make you think that it was central to his work!

Ha - the citing/citimg thing must be the fastest pedantic reverberation yet...unless there's a typo in this message.