Alan Turing in Scientific Biography, Popular Iconography, and Popular Scientific Heroism: A Comparative Study
Within the last thirty years, the computer scientist and philosopher Alan Turing has undergone an astonishing reappraisal. This gradual process has ultimately resulted in Turing becoming a popular hero throughout a new, interconnected digital world. Credited as the inventor of the Universal Turing machine, the concept of Artificial Intelligence, and of the digital electronic computer itself, new institutes, museums, and statues now honor his memory. Turing is seen as relatable and his legacy inspirational and beneficial, a national and international hero once unfairly overlooked.
Of late, Turing has appeared more frequently and prominently as a historical icon outside of professional accounts. 2012 saw the widespread celebrations of Alan Turing Year, and 2014 The Imitation Game, the first major film adaption of his story. Within Britain and America, his status as a persecuted homosexual man at a time when sexuality was a contentious issue has become a point of resonant political reference. Petitions to annul prior convictions for consensual LGBT behavior have found their figurehead in Turing. Sources in popular culture and the media have
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Particular focus will be given to describing Turing 's gradual transferral from academia to popular history, alongside how popular portrayals and media have presented Turing in order to fit certain standards and influence or adhere to popular opinion. The political uses of Turing will also be briefly examined. It will also be explored as to why several comparable figures from the same period (such as John von Neumann or Konrad Zuse) have not become famous or useful in the same