The Genius of Alan Turing

How well do you know the father of modern computing, Alan Turing? Test your knowledge with our quiz on this brilliant mathematician and logician who made major contributions to cryptography, computer science, artificial intelligence, and more. From his early education to his groundbreaking papers, this quiz will put your Turing trivia to the test!

Created by

@PeaceableSugilite

Questions and Answers

What were some of the areas that Alan Turing made major contributions to?

Cryptography and linguistics

Where did Alan Turing study mathematics?

University of Cambridge

What was the title of Turing's seminal paper?

"On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem [Decision Problem]"

What did Turing invent?

The universal Turing machine Signup and view all the answers

What is the Church-Turing thesis?

Everything humanly computable can also be computed by the universal Turing machine Signup and view all the answers

What was the significance of Turing's method?

It showed that no formal system of arithmetic can be consistent. Signup and view all the answers

What impact did Turing's work have on modern computing?

It contributed to the development of modern computing. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Alan Turing was a British mathematician and logician.
He made major contributions to mathematics, cryptanalysis, logic, philosophy, and mathematical biology.
Turing also contributed to the new areas later named computer science, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and artificial life.
He was educated at a top private school and studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge.
In 1936, Turing's seminal paper "On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem [Decision Problem]" was recommended for publication by Alonzo Church.
Turing's method had profound significance for the emerging science of computing.
Turing showed that no consistent formal system of arithmetic has an effective decision method.
He invented the universal Turing machine, an abstract computing machine that encapsulates the fundamental logical principles of the digital computer.
Turing's claim, now called the Church-Turing thesis, was that everything humanly computable can also be computed by the universal Turing machine.
Turing's work had a significant impact on the development of modern computing.