Last week I did not post anything because I had a fairly high peak work, and I was preparing my next I pill when I read Microserfs the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown , formally apologized on behalf of his government all the way to treat this was one of the fathers of modern computing, Alan Turing the brilliant . That is why, building on the circumstances, I will do the same, because I believe that indeed the world of computing has always been very unfair to the vast legacy he left us this great English mathematician.
Since documented more than a job that is just a tribute, I will not write his biography because the work is done in entry in wikipedia, but I'll highlight some of its main contributions and I'll post the letter of apology from Gordon Brown.
Unlike most characters that have appeared in this blog, in times of Alan Turing electronic computers were not programmable. Consider that the ENIAC, considered by many as the first electronic computer was completed in 1947 while the first studies on Alan Turing computation date from the late 30's. Therefore, their initial contributions to the world of computing are only theoretical concepts such as the Turing machine, which basically defines what is a computer.
However, if something should Britain (and one might say almost everyone) to Alan Turing is not only for advances made in computational theory Turing the young but for his work in cryptography, which allowed him to break the code of the Enigma machine . This device was the official cipher of Nazi Germany, was once considered unbreakable, Alan Turing and his team designed a kind of computer called electromechanical bombe that finally got the break, which was a great advantage for the troops allied at all times knew what was cooking in the headquarters of Nazi Germany.
And last but not least, also had some cameos in the field of artificial intelligence. Have you ever heard of the Turing Test? Guess why it's called well ...
In any case, all these achievements were very good, but Alan Turing committed an unforgivable sin for the time when he lived: he was gay. After a mess of skirts (to call them that), Alan Turing authorities acknowledged his homosexuality, so indecendia accused of serious sexual perversion. Turing did not consider he had committed no crime and therefore did not defend himself, and he was sentenced to a choice between going to prison or undergoing hormonal treatment. Turing chose the latter, but as a result his life became a hell. Finally, two years later, Alan Turing was poisoned cyanide while eating an apple. The official version is that he committed suicide by injecting cyanide in the same style of Snow White in the Disney movie, but there is also the version that the poison came from the lack of precautions in the storage of toxic substances in his laboratory.
In any case, although the damage is done, I am delighted that Gordon Brown has at least apologized on behalf of his government's persecution of Turing by their homosexuality. The letter of apology is this:
2009 was a year of deep reflection - an opportunity for Britain as a nation, commemorating the profound debt we have with those who came before. A unique combination of anniversaries and events that have renewed in us a sense of pride and gratitude that characterizes the British experience. Earlier this year I honored along with Presidents Sarkozy and Obama the service and sacrifice of the heroes who took the beaches of Normandy 65 years ago. And just last week, we commemorate the 70 years since the British government declared its intention to take up arms against fascism and declare the outbreak of World War II. So I'm delighted and proud that, thanks to a coalition of computer scientists, historians and LGBT activists, we have an opportunity this year to celebrate another contribution of Britain's struggle against the darkness of dictatorship, that of Alan Turing code breaks.
Turing was a brilliant mathematician, famous for his work to break the Enigma codes. It is no exaggeration to say that without his extraordinary contribution, the history of the Second World War could have been very different. He was certainly one of those people whom we can say that their personal contributions helped change the course of the war. For this debt of gratitude that we owe him even more horrible that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952 he was convicted of "gross indecency" - in fact, was judged to be gay. His conviction, and had to face the choice between this or infamous prison, was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones. He committed suicide two years later.
Thousands of people have gathered to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the horrible way he was treated. Although Turing was prosecuted under the laws in force at the time and we can not rewind time, the treatment she received was of course totally unfair and I welcome the opportunity to say how deeply sorry I am and we all are for what happened. Alan and the other thousands of gay men who were sentenced as he was under homophobic laws were treated terrible. Over the years millions more lived in fear of being condemned.
I am proud that those days are gone and that in the past 12 years this government has done so much to make life fair and equal remuneration for our LGBT community. This recognition of Alan as one of the most famous British victims of homophobia is another long overdue step toward equality.
But more than that, Alan deserves recognition for his contributions to humanity. For those born after 1945 in a Europe united, democratic and at peace, it is difficult to imagine that our continent was once the stage the darkest hour of humanity. It's hard to believe that there are still people alive who can remember that people could be so consumed by hatred, by anti-Semitism, for homophobia, and xenophobia and other prejudices, which many gas chambers and crematoria became part of the European landscape as well as galleries and universities and concert halls that had marked our European civilization for centuries. It is because men and women who were totally dedicated to fighting fascism, people like Alan Turing, that the horrors of the Holocaust and the war are part of Europe's past and not present in Europe.
So on behalf of the British government and of all who live in freedom thanks to Alan I am proud to say: Sorry, you deserved so much better.
Gordon Brown.
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