Thousands Calling For Apology To Founder Of Computer Science

Gizmodo Australia / BBC ^ | 1 Sept., 2009 | By Joanna Stern

[OldSpice]

 

 

Alan Turing, who is said to be the father of modern computer science, was a WWII code-breaker until he was prosecuted by the British government for having homosexual relations. Thousands have now signed a petition calling for a government apology.

Turing committed suicide two years after his prosecution in 1954, but was before given experimental chemical castration as a “treatment”. He is most well known for his NAZI enigma code breaking work for the British during the second World War and his helping establish a test to measure the intelligence of a machine which is now known as a Turing Test.

So far more than 5500 signatures have been collected on the Downing Street petition started by computer scientist John Graham-Cumming. Author Ian McEwan put his John Hancock on the petition.  [BBC]

[Dr. Sivana]

This is a poorly written article. What is the apology supposed to be for? The prosecution. or the castration?

[edcoil]

Would he share harvey milk day?

[TomOnTheRun]

His intellect could have been put to better use than hounding him to some strange Snow White suicide. Especially in war time.

[OldSpice]

I’m guessing, the chemical castration. Ouch.

[econjack]

Aw, come on. What good is an apology to a guy who's been dead for five decades? This isn't an apology to Mr. Turing, this is a make-myself-feel-better for a mistake actioned over 50 years ago. Get over it and try to solve one of the bazillion current problems we have confronting us.

[Nathan Zachary]

Code breaking and writing a test for machines doesn’t translate to “father of computer science”.
And buggery laws were and still are sound laws that should be prosecuted. In fact Obama will probably put them back on the books in the name of socialised health care. Self inflicted anal wounds and diseases are costly to the system.

[ShadowAce]

I do not agree with the idea of an apology. An apology indicates that the actions taken in that era were wrong for that era.

Times have changed. Britain would not do it again during this time. I think that's pretty much recognized.

[MrB]

This isn’t about Turing at all.
It’s about justifying the “normalcy” of homosexual lifestyles.

[steve-b]

I see it only took seven posts for the trolling to begin....

[Nathan Zachary]

It wasn’t a mistake 50 years ago. It was based on sound law and sound psychiatric beliefs that existed at the time.

[Nathan Zachary]

And what are you trolling for??

[Tijeras_Slim]

Even in the 40’s geeks couldn’t get chicks.

[Mojave]

The Turing Test is absurd. Monkeys looking in a mirror never figure out that it is actually themselves that they’re looking at. That doesn’t make the mirror image another real monkey.

[TomOnTheRun]

Code breaking and writing a test for machines doesn’t translate to “father of computer science”.

He presented a paper on 19 February 1946, which was the first detailed design of a stored-program computer. The first working model was built from his plans. He also developed the first organized theory of digital computing. Turing machines are - to this day - the central object of study in theory of computation. Things like those - and other contributions - are why he is the father of modern computation.

[TomOnTheRun]

The Turing Test is absurd. Monkeys looking in a mirror never figure out that it is actually themselves that they’re looking at. That doesn’t make the mirror image another real monkey.

I think you've misunderstood the Turing test. Also, many primates can understand they are looking at a reflection of themselves when they look into mirrors.

[MrB]

It was based on sound law and sound psychiatric beliefs that existed at the time.

I submit that the truth never changes.

[rjsimmon]

He presented a paper on 19 February 1946, which was the first detailed design of a stored-program computer. The first working model was built from his plans. He also developed the first organized theory of digital computing. Turing machines are - to this day - the central object of study in theory of computation. Things like those - and other contributions - are why he is the father of modern computation.

Concur, the Turing Omnibus was required reading for my CompSci courses.

[Nathan Zachary]

OH BS.

In 1837, Charles Babbage, a British professor of mathematics described his idea for the Analytical Engine, the first stored-program mechanical computer. The Analytical Engine was designed to be powered by a steam engine and was to use Punched Cards, which was used to program mechanical looms at the time.

There's the real "father of computer science"

[Mojave]

I think you've misunderstood the Turing test.

Sounds more like you don't get it.

Also, many primates can understand they are looking at a reflection of themselves when they look into mirrors.

I've heard that chimps can. But so what?

[TomOnTheRun]

Babbage’s analytical engine was 1) not using stored programming. It was gear work for goodness sake. And 2) It wasn’t using a digital computational method. Jacquard was the one who made the loom machine BTW. And the cards aren’t stored programs because they don’t represent decision trees - merely a physical barrier to passing a needle though.

[Nathan Zachary]

Or, In 1939, John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry developed the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) at Iowa State University, which was regarded as the first electronic digital computer. The ABC was built by hand and the design used over 300 Vacuum Tubes and had capacitors fixed in a mechanically rotating drum for memory.

He could also be called the father of computer science, considering this was a true digital computer. The vaccum tube was also "the father of the modern resistor"

[Nathan Zachary]

What made the Analytical Engine unique was that it was designed to be programmed. It was because of this and the fact that it would be more than 100 years that any similar devices would be constructed, Charles Babbage, would be considered by many as the “father of computing”. Because of legal, financial, and political obstacles, the Analytical Machine would never be completed. Charles Babbage was also difficult to work with and alienated the supporters of his work.

[org.whodat]

who is said to be the father of modern computer science,

Straw man statement!!!

[Nathan Zachary]

Here is yet another "father of computer sciences".

The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), constructed in the US in 1943, is widely regarded as the first functionally useful electronic general-purpose computer. Influenced by the ABC, it was a turning point in the history of computing and was used to perform ballistics trajectory calculations and used 160 kW of power. World War II is known to be the driving force of computing hardware development and one of such use of computers was in communications encryption and decryption.

[TomOnTheRun]

Sounds more like you don't get it.

The turing test is simply not directly comparable to a monkey and a mirror. The third participant and the human judgement makes it a different bowl of fish entirely.

I've heard that chimps can. But so what?

So... monkeys can, in fact, spot their own reflection as a reflection depending on the species of monkey. Bonobo monkeys not so much - other monkeys.. yes. As can chimps. And gorillas. Don't sell them short. I've met a gorilla with a 1,200 word vocabulary. I'm not sure some of my students have vocabularies that large. *grin*

[devere]

“Code breaking and writing a test for machines doesn’t translate to “father of computer science”.”

Alan M. Turing was in fact one of the primary founders of computer science.

The Association for Computing Machinery since 1966 has awarded the A. M. Turing Award:
“ACM’s most prestigious technical award is accompanied by a prize of $250,000. It is given to an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. The contributions should be of lasting and major technical importance to the computer field.”

http://awards.acm.org/homepage.cfm?srt=all&awd=140

[Nathan Zachary]

So you can see, that this fag was not a ‘father of anything”. The claim is completely absurd.

[Nathan Zachary]

I just posted several examples of much earlier and REAL computer science development.

Sorry, the fairy missed the pier.

[rjsimmon]

Indeed. I postulate that many people had something to do with what we call computer science.

Much to Gore's chagrin, I do not believe one person created the internet, or computer science.

[TomOnTheRun]

Charming. None of the computers you mentioned used stored programming. While electrical they were not digital in the theory or model that he designed. The theory and model that continues to be used to this day.

[Paradox]

I had no clue about this fact. Another episode in “Stupid Historical Mistakes of Western Culture”. I’m so glad we are beyond that.

[Nathan Zachary]

In fact, the UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first commercially available, "mass produced" electronic computer manufactured by Remington Rand in the USA and was delivered to the US Census Bureau in June 1951. It used 5,200 vacuum tubes and consumed 125 kW of power. 46 machines were sold at more than $1 million each.

The microprocessor eventually led to the development of the microcomputer, small, low-cost computers that individuals and small businesses could afford. By the 1990s, the microcomputer or Personal Computer (PC) became a common household appliance, and became even more widespread with the advent of the Internet.

This is real computer science, way ahead of the gay guys paperwork.

[TomOnTheRun]

ENIAC could only store 10 digits and this was through one of the few mechanical-electrical aspects of it. Not stored programming, not digital in the modern method we continue to use.

[steve-b]

Obviously, science keeps advancing and replacing old errors.

[Jagman]

I agree. He appears to have played a central role. If not “the” father, then at least a sperm donor! :)

[TomOnTheRun]

This is real computer science, way ahead of the gay guys paperwork.

And the papers that he wrote throughout the 40's? The computational debates with Wittgenstein? Most of this is predicated in his work. Fag or not.

[Lancey Howard]

lol, yeah an apolgy will make this corpse feel better.

[Mojave]

The turing test is simply not directly comparable to a monkey and a mirror

I figured you couldn't explain yourself. Actual sentience does not exist by virtue of an external observer's belief in it, any more than another real monkey exists in the mirror's reflection.

So... monkeys can, in fact, spot their own reflection as a reflection depending on the species of monkey

Again, so what?

[AceMineral]

Vacuum tubes are great for amplification. Not so great for switching. Transistors are great for switching. Not so great for amplification.

[steve-b]

Yep, that’s how they had computer-guided cannons and codebreaking in the Civil War, yessirree bob!

[Nathan Zachary]

Or, you can consider the The Abacus as the first ‘digital’ computer.

[steve-b]

Trying to educate a troll is like, to recall an earlier example, a monkey screeching at his reflection in a mirror.

[Nathan Zachary]

Awww, are you gay Steve? Upset that your gay guy was NOT a father of anything except rectal cancer?

[Mojave]

I didn’t realize you were screeching, since you weren’t using all caps this time.

[TomOnTheRun]

I figured you couldn't explain yourself

The Turing test is this - a human judge engages in a natural language conversation with one human and one machine Both man and machine are trying to appear human. If the judge cannot reliably tell the machine from the human, the machine is said to have passed the test. Very simple.

Monkeys looking in a mirror never figure out that it is actually themselves that they’re looking at.

But many can in fact discern that different. That's the so-what. The comparison doesn't work on many levels.

[MrB]

It really would be preferable to refer to people’s accomplishments without having to identify where they prefer to rub their jubblies.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

He presented a paper on 19 February 1946, which was the first detailed design of a stored-program computer. The first working model was built from his plans. He also developed the first organized theory of digital computing. Turing machines are - to this day - the central object of study in theory of computation.

Thanks for stating this clearly and succinctly. Folks who question Turing's place in computer science are either unaware of his work or kidding themselves.

[Mojave]

Sorry, the fairy missed the pier.

Careful. You'll upset his groupies.

[Notary Sojac]

Sounds like you are suggesting there is "straight science" and "gay science". I think the world's been there, or something like it, already.