Alan Turing

was born on June 23rd, 1912 in London. He died by suicide in the midst of groundbreaking work, on June 7th 1954. He contributed to mathematics, cryptanalysis, logic, philosophy, biology and formatively to computer science, cognitive science. He pioneered his work in the area of artificial intelligence and artificial life. Turing invented the first abstract computing machines called Turing machines. He imagined the Universal Turing Machine ten years before it could be implemented in electronics. Turing worked for the NPL ( National Physical Laboratory). He and his colleaques at the NFL built the first operational computer. He did not get credit for his work in his lifetime, but subsequently the concept of the Truing machines has become the foundation of the modern theory of computation and compatibility.