Alan Turing :: essays research papers

Biography: Alan Mathison Turing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alan Mathison Turing was surrounded by enigma, not only did he break many cryptic codes but he also lived a mysterious life. Turing was born on June 23, 1912 in Paddington, London to Julius Mathison and Ethel Sara Turing. Turing’s father, Julius, was an officer in the British administration in India when he decided that his son would be raised in England.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Turing had an older brother named John, who also had a childhood determined by the demands of the class and the exile in India of his parents. Alan and his older brother lived among various English foster homes while they were children until 1926, when their father retired from India. While raised in foster homes, Alan was not encouraged nor shown any support, yet through his own curiosity and imagination he found a deep underlying passion for science, primarily in chemistry experiments. Later he went on to other areas of science.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alan became more and more enthralled with science, and his mother worried that he would not be accepted to Sherbourne, an English public school, because he was so much of a scientific specialist. But in 1926, Alan was granted admittance to the public school. However, after a short while the Headmaster reported to his mother that if Alan was solely a scientific specialist, that he was wasting his time. Many other teachers also felt the same was as the Headmaster.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1928, Turing became interested in relativity, and it was at this time that Alan met Christopher Morcom, and everything changed for him. And it was Morcom’s death that prompted Turing to get further involved and motivated to do what Morcom could not. Turing questioned how the human mind was embodied in matter, and whether this matter was released after death. This led him to study twentieth century physics where Alan began to question whether quantum mechanical theory affected the state and his questions of mind and matter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1931, Turing won an entrance to King’s college in Cambridge on scholarship. It was here that Turing was able to express his ideas freely. In 1932 Turing read Con Neumann’s work on the logical foundations of Quantum Mechanics. It was also here at Cambridge that Turing’s homosexuality became a big part of his identity. Turing went on to receive his degree in 1934 followed by a M.A. degree from King’s college in 1935, and a Smith prize in 1936 for his work on probability theory.

I’m Glad it did’nt Happen to Me

It was Wednesday night all four of my friends were gathered at my bedroom for sleepover as the next day, dad was coming from Los Santos to pick us up and we would go to the grand party at hotel meridian, that one of my friends Lilly had kept. It was breezing cold outside even though the windows and blinds were down I could feel the chilling cold and for some reason I was scared, scared for what was going to happen tomorrow.The next day came and we all woke up sluggishly from bed and waited eagerly for dad to come until then we all changed into our dashing party dress, till around 9 in the morning my dad came and we all sat in his big new pajero and then waited eagerly for the destination.On the way we had party in the car and turned the whole car untidy, but I was blessed with the best dad and he didn’t say anything for the mess even we had broken his precious photo frame kept at the back of the car my mom had given him, my mom was no longer alive she had died when I was 6 by cancer and my dad doesn’t talk about her much now, anyways dad announced that we’ll be reaching there in a minute or so and when we did what a splendid surprise we got, our older friends who were the most dear to us were there and we were glad about that†¦..And there came the organizer of the party Lilly beckhams our most important and loved friend, she had always helped us so there was no way that we could reject her invitation to the party†¦. she then escorted all of us inside.. dad wasn’t feeling well so he went home and now we were all there our whole gang the group of the naughtiest girls of high school†¦.We started the fun we had music, dance, neon dance and fun with neon colors, food, and most all our dresses, they had became dirty as hell we were so much busy with enjoying the party that no one noticed that it was dusk and when I glanced at my watch it was almost 8, I called my dad to pick us up from the party and we waited till then in Li lly’s bedroom and freshened up ourselves, I made coffee for everyone and some of my other friends started to move we hugged each other and bid them good bye now there were only four of us and Lilly, we waited for my dad to come†¦..And suddenly I heard loud horns and all four of us hugged Lilly and went downstairs to meet dad he was waiting for us in his pajero wearing his favorite Nike T-shirt and khakis†¦ We went home and hit the sacks†¦.. my friends had to go the next morning so they changed themselves into night suits†¦ †¦but I didn’t even bother to do that†¦. the next morning I was awaken by the loud ringing of my phone I picked it up andAsked who it was the reply was somewhat like this â€Å"Hello, is this Michelle, I’m the manager of hotel meridian and I called you to tell that the night you left minutes later there was a gas leak in Lilly’s bedroom and the whole room was on fire and I am sorry that we couldn’t save Lilly† I had forgotten the language I spoke, tears rolled down my cheeks, she was the apple of my eye and seeing her suffer like that it was dreadful not only me but we were all in the same boat, little did we know that that was the last cup of coffee we drank with her, the last party we had with her, and the last time we saw her smile, but on the other hand I was glad it didn’t happen to me

Nelson Mandela His politics, apartheid and prison life - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1056 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/07/29 Category People Essay Level High school Tags: Nelson Mandela Essay Did you like this example? To the average person, Nelson Mandela is remembered as a political leader who eventually was president of his homeland of South Africa. However, behind his seemingly ever smiling face, lied a life of struggles and injustice. Before Mandela could become the great leader that he was, he endured numerous trials and tribulations. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Nelson Mandela: His politics, apartheid and prison life" essay for you Create order Mandela was born in 1918, at Mvezo, and into a royal family of the Thembu people of the Xhosa nation. His father was a chief of Mvezo, however his untimely death when Mandela was 9, left Mandela to be greatly influenced by the regent. Growing up as part of a tribe, it greatly affected Mandelas views which were shaped by custom, ritual and taboo. Mandela was in and out of schools, jobs and homes all throughout his childhood and even into his early adult life. Because of this nomad type of living in his young years, he got to know many different types of people from different tribes, who possible had different social and/or political views. This in turn would shape Mandelas social and political views, as well as his view on the world. This paper argues that Mandelas experiences at Healdtown helped to shape his cultural and moral values and his time at Fort Hare helped to shape his political values, all aiding to the development of the great political leader that he one day would become. When Mandela was about 19 years old, following his rigorous experiences at Clarkebury Mandela enrolled in the Wesleyan College in Fort Beaufort, Healdtown. His time here certainly influenced his cultural view of his own tribe as well as others tribes. The first instance occurs when Mandela made [his] first Sotho-speaking friend, Zachariah Molete and he remembered feeling quite bold having a friend who was not Xhosa (37). Mandela never knew that the possibility of making not friendships outside of his own tribe even existed before attending Healdtown. However, by interacting with people outside of his native tribe, Mandela began to sense his identity as an African, not just a Thembu or even a Xhosa (38). These examples show how Mandelas time at Healdtown led him to broaden his cultural horizons and shape his new cultural views and which in turn would contribute the great political leader he became. In addition to making a friend outside of his tribe at Healdtown, Mandela also witnessed a black man stand up to Dr. Wellington, a white, important figure in the school, which further developing his cultural views. Reverend Mokitimi, a black man, refused to report to Dr. Wellington of the infraction that occurred between two prefects at the school. Dr. Wellington asked again, however Reverend Mokitimi refused once again to give away any information to him at the time, but he would inform him the next day. Through this Mandela realized then that a black man did not have to defer automatically to a white man, however senior he was (38). Similarly, to how Mandela would never have considered having a friend across tribe lines, he also would have never considered a black man standing up to a whit man across color lines. Previously, Mandela would have considered all black men to be below white, however through this experience, he understands that it is not necessarily that way. At H ealdtown, Mandela witnesses the notion of double consciousness as he was a balck man trying to navigate the British style education during this time. He has empowerment and can achieve massive amounts throughout his time there, but he still has restrictions on him due to his color. As Reverend Mokitimi stood up to Dr. Wellington, Mandelas cultural views were again shaped and molded to aid him in his ideals as a great political leader. In addition to Mandelas cultural views being shaped at Healdtown, his moral values were also put to the test. In his second year at the school Mandela was appointed a prefect by Reverend Mokitimi and Dr. Wellington. He had many responsibilities, but one specifically tested his moral values. He was assigned night duty and caught another prefect urinating in the bushes. Such behaviors were to be reported immediately, however instead of following the strict rules at Healdtown, Mandela did not report one of his own kind and he simply tore up [his list] and charged no one (40). Despite this being a minor event, it still demonstrates how Mandela would stick up for those of his own kind and not turn on them, showing loyalty. This instance shaped and even reinforced Mandelas moral values, which helped him when becoming a major political leader. During Mandelas time at Fort Hare, there were many clear events that shaped his political viewpoints and strength. However, arguably the most defining and controversial moment in his time there was the student government election and the events surrounding it. Mandela was appointed for highest student organization at the school, the Student Representative Council. However, during the election time, many students believed that their voices were not heard. The students unanimously felt that the diet at Fort Hare was unsatisfactory and that the powers of the SRC needed to be increased (51). To change the issue that they were facing, the majority of the student body decided to boycott the upcoming election and Mandela also boycotted. Even though the majority of the students boycotted, approximately 25 students still voted in the Student Representative Council election. Mandela was elected with six other students all of whom wrote a letter of resignation to the principal, Dr. Kerr. Dr. Kerr accepted their resignation, and arranged for another election, this time however with all students voting at the dining hall during dinner. Mandela was once again elected, with the original five others. Despite the other five finding it acceptable to accept their Student Representative Council positions, Mandela did not and this resigned again. However, the principal told him that he either had to accept his position on the Student Representative Council or he would be forced to leave Fort Hare. Mandela had to make another moral decision, similar to the one made at Healdtown, and once again decides to stand up for what he believes in, thus leaving Fort Hare and its education behind. When describing this event in his autobiography, Mandela states that he simply could not [compromise]. Something inside me simply would not let me resented his absolute power over my fate (52-53).