100 years ago on Saturday, Alan Turning was born in the UK. Turing was a mathematician that, in 1936, authored and published a paper that basically became the foundation for all of computer science. The "Turing machine" was one of the biggest steps in the computing industry.
Google has turned its main web site logo into interactive doodles on the occasion of a birthday or anniversary on a number of occasions. To celebrate Turing"s 100th birthday, Google has turned its website into a virtual version of the Turing Machine, based on Turing"s original paper. The doodle can be accessed at some of Google"s international sites, including its UK page, and should be available on Google.com on Saturday.
The doodle is also kind of an interactive game, but for most people, using the Turing machine on Google"s front page could be over their heads. If you want some hints, someone has posted up a video on YouTube that may help you out (obviously, the video is a spoiler).
In its official blog, Google talks about how it has helped to raise money to help Bletchley Park purchase Turing’s papers. Bletchley Park was the UK location where Turing worked in WWII to help break Nazi codes. This week, London’s Science Museum launched a new exhibit, “Codebreaker - Alan Turing’s Life and Legacy", with help from Google.
Source: Google UK | Image via Google