Wednesday, March 3, 2004
MATH MOVIES: "Breaking the Code"
ECON 110, 4:00pm
A BBC dramatization of the life of Alan Turing (of Turing machine fame), the British mathematician whom many credit with designing the first electronic computer, built to help break the German World War II Enigma cypher. Mathematicians and logicians revere him for solving Hilbert's famous decidibility problem in a most original manner. Turing was an open homosexual, when English law made that a crime and national security issues made it a matter of governmental concern. The BBC production is based on the stage play by Hugh Whitmore, which itself is based on the book "Alan Turing: The Enigma", by Andrew Hodges. Our cryptographically oriented series will continue on March 31, with a video on the Navajo Codetalers of WW II.