Know Your Scientist: Alan Turing

Alan Turing – a brilliant British mathematician and one of the leading scientific geniuses of the 20th century, is regarded as the father of modern computer science and artificial intelligence. Although his name wasn’t widely known outside scientific circles during his lifetime, (his most crucial work was classified top secret until the late 1970s), he became the center of media attention when he was posthumously granted a Royal pardon on December 23, 2013, by Queen Elizabeth II.

Turing cracked the unbreakable German Enigma codes during World War II, shortening the duration of the war and "saving countless lives," according to British Prime Minister David Cameron. Turing was arrested in 1952 for homosexuality, and tried and convicted of" "gross indecency." Homosexuality was a crime in Britain in the 1950s, and Turing was given a choice between prison and chemical castration. The latter involved a series of estrogen injections for one year. He chose chemical castration, received "treatment" for his "disorder," but two years later, he was found dead of an apparent suicide. He was 41 years old.

Read more about this incredible visionary here: http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/know-your-scientist-alan-turing/