Alan Turing

Alan Turing was an English mathematician (although he was interested in many other scientific disciplines) and one of the originators of computer science. His Turing machine was a forerunner of the modern computer.

He worked at Bletchley Park during WW2 and was instrumental in breaking the famous German Enigma codes, saving countless ships from being destroyed. He was awarded the OBE for this work in 1945.

His work in computing and artificial intelligence continued after the war and he was elected a Fellow to the Royal Society in 1951.

All this came to naught in the end since the main problem with Alan Turing was that he was gay. In 1952 he was charged and convicted of homosexuality and elected to take hormone therapy ("chemical castration") instead of going to jail.

Perhaps not too surprising then that two years later in 1954 he was found dead of cyanide poisoning. A half eaten apple at his side was thought to have contained the poison.

You know the Apple computers logo, the apple with a bite taken out of it? This is in reference to Alan Turing.