Alan Turing and the Bombe

Alan Turing's computer related studies can be traced back to the summer of 1938 when he worked on a machine capable of breaking the German "Enigma code." The machine was preceded by a machine called "bomba," named after Polish ice cream. The frozen treat was replaced by Turing's invention, the "bombe," which was completely different and much more useful than it's predecessor. By the end of the war, the bombe was decoding between 39,000-84,000 messages per month. For his amazing contributions to the war effort, Turing was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire.


Following his work in the war, Turing went on to work for the National Physical Laboratory. At the NPL he developed a "general purpose" computer with advanced storage capabilities. His colleagues decided that engineering the project would be too difficult so a simplified version was built. If Turing's version had been made it would have been the most advanced computer of the day.

Turing was accused of being gay by the British government and sentenced to hormone therapy. His government clearance was also revoked. He wrote on Artificial Intellegance before commiting suicide in 1954.



Polish ice cream.