Alan Mathison Turing was a phenomenal mathematician and founder of computer science, who lived from 1912-1954. In his tragically short lifetime, he had a profound impact on the world. Here are 9 amazing things about Alan Turing. [caption id="attachment_3603" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Alan Turing Sculpture at Belchley Park (image courtesy Jon Callas/Flickr)"] [/caption]

1. When Turing was 16 years old, he extrapolated Einstein's questioning of Newton's laws of motion. The amazing part is that the book that he read did not provide any explanation, he was able to come up with it on his own.
2. In 1938, Turing earned his Ph.D. in Logic, Algebra, and number theory from Princeton University. Despite his credentials, Turing did not like to be called Dr. Turing, although he would use his title at times to reinforce his credibility.
3. Alan Turing created the Turing Machine, a theoretical device that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a set of rules. This theory is the basis for how modern CPUs work.
4. Turing also came up with the Turing Test, which he formulated in answer to the question, "can machines think." Those CAPTCHA forms that you have to fill out on certain websites, the ones that determine whether you are a human or a bot, are a form of Turing Test.
5. During World War II, Turing was a part of the U.K.'s Government Code and Cipher School at Bletchley Park, and he was instrumental in deciphering many German ciphers, including the Enigma machine. Without Turing's participation during World War II, the outcome of the war would have been terribly different.
6. Turing was an exceptional long distance runner, and during his time at Bletchley Park, he would sometimes run the 40 miles between there and London for his meetings. He was such a tremendous runner that he was going to participate in the 1948 Olympics, but was unable to due to injury.
7. In the 1950s, Turing took an interest in mathematical biology, with an emphasis on Fibonacci phyllotaxis, or the appearance of the Fibonacci sequence in the structure formation of certain plants.
8. In 2008, the Princeton Alumni Weekly named Turing the second most influential alumnus in the university's history, behind only James Madison.
9. The A.M. Turing Award has been given yearly since 1966 to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community." It is such a prestigious award that it is considered the Nobel Prize of Computer Science.

Alan Turing was openly gay, and unfortunately  in 1950s England, homosexuality was illegal. Despite his profound work in the field of cryptanalysis, he was unable to continue working in the field after the war because as a homosexual, he could not get a security clearance. To add insult to injury, in 1952 he was tried and convicted of indecency and was forced to submit to chemical castration, or go to prison. In 1954, he committed suicide by ingesting cyanide, although his mother vigorously contended that it was an accident. On September 10, 2009, the British government officially apologized for the way Turing was treated after the war.