Google's latest doodle is a brain
twister befitting the man it is meant to honor -- the late British
mathematician Alan Turing, who would have turned 100 on Saturday. Without
Turing's work, computers as we know them would not exist, or at least the
trajectory of their development would have been altered or delayed. As the
first to map out the digital universe, his work now lies at the root of
everything involving computer science. "A polymath of the highest order,
Turing left a list of achievements stretching far beyond the realm of computer
science," wrote Joab Jackson for IDG News. Jackson noted that during World War
II, Turing was instrumental in cracking German encrypted messages, allowing the
British to anticipate Germany's actions and ultimately help win the war.
As for
his math achievements, he devised a conceptual computing machine called the
Turing Machine that would use an infinitely long piece of tape containing a
series of symbols. A machine head could read the symbols and add its own, as
well as move to different parts of the tape, one symbol at a time. Since
infinite tapes obviously don't exist, a Turing Machine couldn't actually be
created, but the concept brought to life invaluable and transformative ideas.
Modern day computers use the binary logic of 1s and Os and work like the Turing
Machine, minus the tape. That's where Google's doodle comes in. If you're
itching to get some binary action of your own, head over to Google's homepage
where the cryptic doodle lies in wait for you to figure out. Here’s a clue: the
object is to spell Google's name and by switching the numbers and hitting play,
you can do it. Over the years Google has produced more than 1000
doodles. This one could be difficult to figure out. Still need help
with it? There's a video of the doodle in action.
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