Turing Machine as a Foundation to Computer Science
"Turing's 1936 paper has come to represent the birth of computer science, though the motivation and substance of this paper were entirely mathematical."
- Professor Eugene Eberbach, University of MA
Professor Dina Goldin, University of CT
Professor Peter Wegner, Brown University
The central focus of Turing's 1936 paper revolved around the automatic machine, now known as the Turing machine.
It was the first theoretical computer, with elements analogous to modern day computers, such as memory and parameters. Unknowingly, it created the foundation for theoretical computer science with a universal machine that incorporated all programs.
"This analysis has led to a deeper understanding of digital computers and computation, including the revelation that there are some computation problems that cannot be solved on computers at all, no matter how fast the processor, or how much memory is available." |
ACE as a Precursor to a Modern Universal Computer
In 1945, Turing began work on the ACE, or Automatic Computing Engine at the National Physical Laboratory.
The ACE had parallels with the Turing machine, and was much more complex than the other designs of the time.
"ACE was planned to the fastest and having the largest memory in the world. ... Turing's vision to build a machine that would show "genuine intelligence" went far beyond the project's original mission of doing "large difficult sums"..."
- Professor Eugene Eberbach
Professor Dina Goldin
Professor Peter Wegner
The capabilities of the ACE pioneered new concepts with implications in modern day computer science.
"ACE's design involved many pioneering concepts that became standard part of computer architecture decades later."
- Professor Eberbach
Professor Goldin
Professor Wegner