BLETCHLEY PARK, well worth a visit!!

[Harness69]

We visited Bletchley Park today. What amazing things happened there! I can't claim to be scientifically, technically or electronically minded but the ingenuity and dedication of the staff there during WW2, especially Alan Turing is an inspiration. The brains behind developing Colossus and Enigma! We produced the pioneers of the early computer age. Bletchley to Silicon Valley!

How terrible it is though that Turing took his own life, persecuted by the intolerance and bigotry of others... made to feel ashamed of himself, his own desires, instincts and the essence of his nature through vindictive actions of a narrow, repressed minority...

How I hope we have moved on..

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[trev]

Most have, some never will

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Most have, some never will

Sad, but true trev.

 

[cogsey133]

Recent evidence suggests that Turing did not mean to kill himself. The cyanide poisoning may have been due to the type of experiments he frequently carried out. Whatever the reason he was a very intelligent and forward thinking man and didn't deserve the persecution he received after all he did for this country.

 

[MarkieSparkie]

When I was an apprentice one of my first jobs was to maintain an all valve computer of similar vintage to Collosus, this was the worlds first electronic, programmable, torpedo target acquisition, bearing and ranging computer called Posiedon, now sadly languishing in pieces in the science museum vaults. The last time I enquired about it, I offered to rebuild it for them so it could be displayed, but they did not have an exhibition space at the time. Still I live in hope of one day seeing it and being able to drive it again. These days the calculations it performed could be done on a mobile phone rather than a device 4000 cubic feet in volume.