Alan Turing: Founder of computer science

© 2017, Springer International Publishing AG.In this paper, a biographical overview of Alan Turing, the 20th century mathematician, philosopher and early computer scientist, is presented. Turing has a rightful claim to the title of ‘Father of modern computing’. He laid the theoretical groundwork for a universal machine that models a computer in its most general form before World War II. During the war, Turing was instrumental in developing and influencing practical computing devices that have been said to have shortened the war by up to two years by decoding encrypted enemy messages that were generally believed to be unbreakable. After the war, he was involved with the design and programming of early computers. He also wrote foundational papers in the areas of what are now known as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and mathematical biology shortly before his untimely death. The paper also considers Turing’s subsequent influence, both scientifically and culturally.