Alan Turing was a true visionary. Founding what we understand today as computer science, he was also a mathematician, a philosopher, and an early trailblazer for gay equality. Without his genius for codebreaking, the Second World War might have gone in a much darker direction. He saved millions of lives and potentially the world as we know it, yet his efforts for humanity were not enough to spare him the inhuman treatment he received for his sexual orientation.

Andrew Hodges was one of the first people to realize the multifaceted brilliance of Alan Turing, which eventually led him to write the renowned biography, Alan Turing: The Enigma, which was recently adapted into the film The Imitation Game starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Like Turing, Hodges is a mathematician and gay rights activist, and understands first hand the impact Turing’s life has had on our world today.

This week on Point of Inquiry, Hodges explains how Turing became so influential in so many different fields, and how his genius was so far ahead of his time.