I’ve been reading a fantastically interesting book called “The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography” by Simon Singh. My interest in cryptography has been life-long but casual, as I’m ridiculously math-impaired. However, geocaching has really spiked said interest, since there are some brutal puzzle caches out there.
Part of the book’s allure is the way Singh makes history come alive on the page. He wrote a section on the WWII era “Enigma Machine”, and the Allied codbreakers who worked to defeat it. One codebreaker in particular stood out to me.
You’ve probably never heard of this man, but his cryptanalysis efforts helped the Allies win WW2- the man’s work was vital. He was also gay- and ultimately driven to suicide, disgraced, and convicted by the UK gov’t as homosexuality was illegal then. Alan Turing is a tragic example of how homophobia silenced a brilliant, heroic mind way too soon.
Turing’s work with the British government during the war was instrumental in defeating Germany. Without his input, I’m not sure the war would have turned out as favorably for the Allies as it did.
It’s a fascinating read. As history and science reading goes, it’s best I’ve read since “Blink”.
We’ve heard of him: the famed “Turing test” was his idea.
And last month, Her Majesty’s Government got around to an official apology, although poor Alan, driven to his death, never got to hear it.
PM Gordon Brown:
“Without his outstanding contribution, the history of World War Two could well have been very different. The debt of gratitude he is owed makes it all the more horrifying, therefore, that he was treated so inhumanely. In 1952, he was convicted of gross indecency – in effect, tried for being gay. His sentence – and he was faced with the miserable choice of this or prison – was chemical castration by a series of injections of female hormones.”
Rather a lot of governments owe rather a lot of apologies still, I suggest.
Pretty amazing, isn’t it Chaz, that they just finally got around to the apology? And yes, many apologies are owed. Sad.
One wonders how many beautiful minds are quashed by the closet and homophobia. So sad. So wrong.