In Jim Holt’s, “Code-Breaker”, he talks of a man named Alan Turing and his many accomplishments. The first paragraph was definitely was an attention grabber, “Before getting into bed the night before, he had taken a few bites out of an apple that was, apparently, laced with cyanide” (Holt 337).
The purpose of this essay was to elaborate on how no matter how smart of creative you are; people will remember or recognize you as the person you are inside and what you believe. The intended audience was meant for slightly younger adults to show them it does not matter what you achieve; it is the person who you are that people will always remember you by. In addition, it shows how Turing had a big part during the war.
He took steps toward building a life-like computer, even making some of the relays himself. Unfortunately he was never credited for this particular achievement, “In addition to his studies with Church, he also had dealings with the formidable john von Neumann, who would later be credited with the innovations in computer architecture that Turing himself had pioneered” (Holt 341).
Alan had created the computer and helped crack the German codes during war, which only two people thought it could’ve been done. Because cracking the code was a major part of the war, that could have landed a target on Turning’s back. This could be a leading factor in his death.
Do you think that knowing he may have been a target, could have imposed on his daily life activites, feeling the need to commit suicide?
Do you believe he commited suicide? I honestly don't think he did, I believe that someone had targetted him because he had come out about his relationship with men in a time when it was unheard of, but I don't think he was the kind of person who would hide in his home never to be seen again. Especially after so many accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteHi Serena,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it's an attention-getting opener. A bit sensational for my tastes, but I appreciate the writer's strategy to hook his reader. I thought the article struggled a bit between the writer's goal to examine Turing's death and his other goal, to examine the man's achievements.