British mathematician Alan Turing (1912–1954) described what became known as the "Turing Machine" in his 1936 paper, "On Computable Numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem," which was published in the...

Turing machines were invented by Alan Turing, the father of computer science, in 1936. He wanted to define what an algorithm is in precise mathematical terms. His definition turned out to also be the most useful model of a computer to this date. A...

In 1936 English mathematician and computer theorist Alan Turing (1912-1954), while studying at Cambridge University, began work in predicate logic. His studies led in 1937 to a proof that certain mathematical problems could be solved by automation....

. A device due to A.M.Turing for solving any problem which can be solved by computation. An indefinitely long tape extends through a point on the machine which reads symbols on it, normally in the form of noughts and ones, or some equivalent (e.g....

Turing machines are extremely basic abstract symbol-manipulating devices which, despite their simplicity, can be adapted to simulate the logic of any computer that could possibly be constructed. They were described in 1936 by Alan Turing. Though they...

In the field of computability and algorithmicity, there have recently been two essays that are, in my opinion, of great interest: Peter Slezak's "Descartes's Diagonal Deduction," and David Deutsch's "Quantum Theory, the Church-Turing Principle and the Universal Quantum Computer." Briefly, the former shows that...

The business of busy beavers Start with a string of zeros and ones printed on a strip of tape and a device that reads, prints and erases symbols. The device scans the tape and, following a set of precise instructions, makes appropriate...