It's pretty likely that you've heard of Alan Turing. If you haven't, watch the movie Enigma. It's about him. Or look him up. He's easily as interesting as NikolaTesla.
Turing's code breaking machine was the first 'computer' and the earliest ancestor of the computer sitting on your desk. With it he was able to break the Enigma's code and it may have been the key to winning WWII.
There's a lot to know about Turing, and all of it is worth knowing. But I want to share with you the things about his story that I find the most interesting.
From childhood, Alan was fascinated by science and math. As a child, Natural Wonders Every Child Should Know by E.T. Brewster, a gift from his uncle, was his favorite book. He spent a lot of time pondering over his favorite section of the book, the section on poisons. The book read, "The life of any creature - man, animal, or plant - is one long fight against being poisoned." 12 year old Alan underlined that passage with his homemade fountain pen.
When Alan was 24 he saw Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Regent Street Picture House in Cambrige, England. It seems that his favorite part of the movie is where the wicked queen dips an apple in poison, and says to her raven, "Dip the apple in the brew. Let the sleeping death seep through." After seeing the movie, Alan made a habit of eating an apple every night before bed and was often heard singing to himself that line.
In February of 1952 Turing's house was robbed. When police questioned Turing about the break in, his story didn't exactally add up. But Turing had never been a good liar and he knew it, so he told the police what he knew. He told the police that the man who broke into his house was the friend of a gentleman he had met in a bar. Alan told the police that this friend was, well, more than a friend.
Alan was convicted of sex crimes of moral turpitude. He was forced to take high doses of estrogen to kill his labito. He was under very close watch by athorities and was required to let them know of his whereabouts everytime he left his home because a man convicted of 'moral turpitude' couldn't be trusted with state secrets. He was rejected by his family, and everyone who knew that he was gay.
On the morning of June 8th, 1954, Alan's housekeeper found him dead in his bed. Before he went to sleep the night before, as usual, he ate an apple. Only on that night the apple had been dipped in cyanide, and there was just one bite taken from it.
