Happy Pride! In the spirit of the season, Kate tells the story of Alan Turing. During World War II, Turing designed a machine that could decrypt tens of thousands of Nazi communications per month, likely shortening the war by several years and saving millions of lives. 

He was lauded as a hero… until it was revealed he was gay. His conviction for “gross indecency” led to the tragic end of a brilliant visionary who pushed computer science forward by leaps and bounds. 

Kate also gives a very high-level overview of the history of computers through the mid-20th century, and discusses the shady Nazi dealings of IBM and its president, Thomas Watson. 

Content Warning: Suicide

References

History of Computers

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/computer

https://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/Ancient-Africa/lebombo.html

https://afrolegends.com/2019/05/17/the-lebombo-bone-the-oldest-mathematical-artifact-in-the-world/

https://mathigon.org/timeline/ishango

https://old.maa.org/press/periodicals/convergence/mathematical-treasure-ishango-bone

https://kb.osu.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/5ec33729-835c-5b97-8993-f6ea84bd7617/content

https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/computers/

https://www.britannica.com/technology/computer/History-of-computing

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/analog-vs-digital/all

https://control.com/textbook/digital-data-acquisition-and-networks/digital-representation-of-numerical-data/

https://www.paleotechnologist.net/?p=5264

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinknudson/2017/01/21/the-humble-logarithm/

https://www.nps.gov/long/blogs/a-gunter-scale-used-for-navigation-and-mathematics.htm

https://web.mit.edu/2.972/www/reports/slide_rule/slide_rule.html

https://sites.imsa.edu/hadron/2024/04/02/decoding-the-digital-age-how-binary-code-rules-our-world/

http://scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/jacquard-loom

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/charles-babbages-difference-engines-and-science-museum

https://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/engines/

https://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/adalovelace/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666389920301598

Thomas Watson and IBM

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/watson_hi.html

https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2021/02/carroll-21-and-meirowitz-22-why-is-brown-celebrating-a-nazi-honoree-rename-the-watson-cit

https://www.nytimes.com/1940/06/07/archives/1937-hitler-decoration-is-returned-by-watson.html

https://chsi.harvard.edu/harvard-ibm-mark-1-about

IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ICISEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP8&dq=thomas+j+watson,+Ibm,+and+nazi+germany&ots=dvygruNeA_&sig=pGtz198U3coJnEUA8E6qVvABOzQ#v=onepage&q=thomas%20j%20watson%2C%20Ibm%2C%20and%20nazi%20germany&f=false

Alan Turing

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18419691

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/articles/zhwp7nb#zbmwcxs

15-year-old Alan: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/976xn/p02ck8fl.jpg.webp

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alan-Turing

https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/enigma-codebreaker-alan-turing-two-jewish-refugees/

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/the-enigma-of-alan-turing/

https://www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk/science-engineering/2024/06/18/an-indicted-hero-honouring-alan-turing-as-a-gay-man-failed-by-society-pride-month-2024/

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