Bletchley Park

Discussion in 'Top Secret' started by stevew, May 27, 2009.

  1. stevew

    stevew Senior Member

  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Bletchley Park’s contribution to WW2 'over-rated'

     
  3. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Alan Turing

    Alan Turing
    In Our Time
    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Alan Turing (1912-1954) whose 1936 paper On Computable Numbers effectively founded computer science. Immediately recognised by his peers, his wider reputation has grown as our reliance on computers has grown. He was a leading figure at Bletchley Park in the Second World War, using his ideas for cracking enemy codes, work said to have shortened the war by two years and saved millions of lives. That vital work was still secret when Turing was convicted in 1952 for having a sexual relationship with another man for which he was given oestrogen for a year, or chemically castrated. Turing was to kill himself two years later. The immensity of his contribution to computing was recognised in the 1960s by the creation of the Turing Award, known as the Nobel of computer science, and he is to be the new face on the £50 note.
    With
    Leslie Ann Goldberg
    Professor of Computer Science and Fellow of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
    Simon Schaffer
    Professor of the History of Science at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Darwin College
    And
    Andrew Hodges
    Biographer of Turing and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford
    Producer: Simon Tillotson
     
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  4. steved3811

    steved3811 Member

    I've read Professor Ferris' "Official History" and to be honest, he appears to have been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the task undertaken... sadly the book is a disappointment with little flow and seemingly little feeling for his subject. Compared with the writings of other authors on the same subject, I think I'll take his conclusions with a pinch of salt.
     
  5. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    I have just been listening to Prof, Sue Black of Durham University who was involved in taking oral histories of the women who worked at Bletchley.She then started fundraising to help rescue the site.£4.1 million pounds cane from lottery between 2008-2011.She says 8,ooo women worked at Bletchley during the War.The project saved thousands of lives.The film about Turing, whilst interesting was full of errors, but has raised awareness of what was originally a well kept secret.
     
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