[TUHS] Alan Turing and his computable numbers

[TUHS] Alan Turing and his computable numbers

[Dave Horsfall]

On this day in 1936, notable mathematician Alan Turing submitted his 
thesis "On Computable Numbers", thereby laying the foundations for today's 
computers.

Sigh; if only he hadn't eaten that apple...  And we'll never know whether 
it was murder or suicide.

-- Dave

[TUHS] Alan Turing and his computable numbers

[Toby Thain]

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On 2018-05-27 6:34 PM, Dave Horsfall wrote:
> On this day in 1936, notable mathematician Alan Turing submitted his
> thesis "On Computable Numbers", thereby laying the foundations for
> today's computers.
> 
> Sigh; if only he hadn't eaten that apple...  And we'll never know
> whether it was murder or suicide.

What's the "murder" theory?

I thought the question was whether it was deliberate suicide or a lab
accident. Not that I'm a Turing expert...

--Toby


> 
> -- Dave
> 

[TUHS] Alan Turing and his computable numbers

[Dave Horsfall]

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On Sun, 27 May 2018, Toby Thain wrote:

>> Sigh; if only he hadn't eaten that apple...  And we'll never know 
>> whether it was murder or suicide.
>
> What's the "murder" theory?

A jealous lover, apparently, who knew that he liked apples.

> I thought the question was whether it was deliberate suicide or a lab
> accident. Not that I'm a Turing expert...

Can't remember where I saw it (it was a book on Turing's life), but given 
that homosexuality was illegal at the time, no doubt the police would've 
had an interest in spreading the story...  You know, "this is what can 
happen to you if you become a homo" etc (despite the fact that it's quite 
common amongst mammals).

-- Dave

[TUHS] Alan Turing and his computable numbers

[Peter Jeremy]

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On 2018-May-27 18:38:59 -0400, Toby Thain <toby at telegraphics.com.au> wrote:
>> Sigh; if only he hadn't eaten that apple...  And we'll never know
>> whether it was murder or suicide.
>
>What's the "murder" theory?

I hadn't heard the "murder" theory but a quick search turned up:
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/was-alan-turing-murdered-author-roger-bristow-says-yes.html

I guess that's possible but I thought he'd lost all his clearances.

-- 
Peter Jeremy
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[TUHS] Alan Turing and his computable numbers

[Dave Horsfall]

On Mon, 28 May 2018, Peter Jeremy wrote:

>> What's the "murder" theory?
>
> I hadn't heard the "murder" theory but a quick search turned up: 
> https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/was-alan-turing-murdered-author-roger-bristow-says-yes.html

Fascinating article; one thing's for sure though: if the FBI was involved 
then we'll never know for sure.

> I guess that's possible but I thought he'd lost all his clearances.

Yeah, but my conspiracist side says that because he knew about Verona and 
could possibly be compromised, someone wanted him very dead...

-- Dave