The man who helped win the war, invented computing and inspired artificial intelligence research

Editorial note: Alan Turing was a major figure in the cracking of the Germans' Enigma code at Bletchley Park which could well have helped shortened World War II by a couple of years. The more general importance of his work in the history of computing and the Artificial Intelligence is also universally acknowledged.

Introduction

As a teacher I was always on the lookout for something that could provide context, relevance and intrigue to the topics I was teaching. Now, as a museum's Education Officer (who also travels around the country with a real, working Enigma machine), I'm continually searching for educational opportunities within the topical catchment of the museum I work in. One source for such inspiration is famous people, and one famous person particularly relevant to the work I do now is Alan Turing...