Geek 01 Sep 2003 10:36 pm
Think different
This weekend, I watched the play “Breaking the Code”, by Hugh Whitemore, about the life of Alan Turing. The title of the play refers both to the work he did during the Second World War, breaking the secret codes used by the German military, and to the moral codes of his time (1912-1954), against which he fought fiercely and because of which he suffered greatly. Persecuted for being homosexual, Turing committed suicide at 42 by eating a poisoned apple (the rumour saying that the Apple logo is a homage to Turing, however, is probably just that: a rumour).
The play begins shortly before his suicide, and tells the story of his life in flashbacks, through his memories. We watch scenes from his youth, when he lost a great friend (and possibly his first passion) to tuberculosis; then we see the years when he worked for the Secret Service and we watch as his life is slowly destroyed during his last years, after he was arrested and sentenced to jail for moral misconduct (namely, having an homosexual affair). The play is set in a very simple stage, with almost no elements other than the actors (and Turing never leaves the scene); it convincingly transmits the idea that you are inside the mind of Turing, watching as he remembers key moments of his life before ending it.
This would be a sad history for any character, but it is made even sadder by the genius of Turing. The computer where I am writing this text, as well as the one you are using to read it, comes from ideas first described by this man; both are, in the end, Turing Machines. These theoretical machines, invented by him years before it was possible to build anything remotely resembling a modern-day computer, are mathematical abstractions created and described by Turing that became fundamental for computer science.
In the end, this play is the real story of a genius who brought new ideas to mathematics and to the, at the time, nascent field of computers, but who had his life destroyed by a rigid moral code and a life style then seen as unacceptable. To whomever has the chance, I recommend watching this play (there is also a TV version, which is not as good); no technical knowledge is necessary. And, to whomever does not have the chance, I recommend reading more about one of the men who made possible this digital world in which we live.
