Excerpt
Introduction: The Genius Who Changed the World
Some people change the world in ways that everyone can see—leaders give speeches, astronauts fly into space, and inventors build things you can touch. But sometimes, the people who change history do it quietly, working behind the scenes. Alan Turing was one of those people.
He wasn’t famous when he was alive. He didn’t win a war by leading an army or become a hero by flying a plane. Instead, he used his brain, his love of math, and his ability to solve impossible problems. And because of that, he helped end World War II faster, saved millions of lives, and even laid the foundation for the computers we use today.
Alan Turing was born in England in 1912. From the time he was a kid, he loved puzzles. He wasn’t the type of person who just accepted things as they were. If someone told him a rule, he wanted to know why it existed. If something seemed confusing, he wouldn’t stop thinking about it until he figured it out. That’s the kind of mind he had—always looking for patterns, always searching for answers.
At school, Turing wasn’t like everyone else. He was brilliant at math, but he wasn’t always interested in the subjects teachers expected him to focus on. He’d rather spend time solving problems that actually challenged him. This sometimes got him in trouble, but it also helped him grow into one of the greatest problem-solvers in history.
As he got older, Turing became fascinated by the idea of machines that could think. At the time, people thought machines could only do what humans told them to do. But Turing believed something different. He thought a machine could be programmed to solve problems on its own, just like a person.
During World War II, Turing’s ability to think differently became one of the most important weapons the Allies had. The German military used a machine called Enigma to send secret messages. These messages were impossible to understand unless you had the right code. And the code changed every single day. It was like trying to solve a new, nearly impossible puzzle every morning.
The British government needed someone who could figure out a way to break Enigma’s codes. Turing was the perfect person for the job. He and a team of codebreakers worked at a top-secret place called Bletchley Park. They didn’t have much time. Every moment they spent trying to crack the code, soldiers and civilians were in danger.
Turing didn’t just break the code—he built a machine to do it. This machine, called the Bombe, could find the Enigma settings much faster than humans could. Once it worked, the Allies were able to read German messages in secret. They knew where attacks would happen before they did. They could stop submarines from sinking ships. They could win battles that might have been lost.
Historians believe that Turing’s work shortened the war by at least two years. That means millions of people who might have died in battle or bombings survived. And yet, because his work was classified, most people didn’t know what he had done.
Even after the war, Turing didn’t stop thinking about the future. He kept working on his idea that machines could think. The concept he came up with, now called the “Turing Test,” is still used today to determine whether a computer can think like a human. It’s part of what led to artificial intelligence—the technology behind things like voice assistants, self-driving cars, and smart robots.
Why his story matters
Wars aren’t just fought with soldiers and weapons. They’re also fought with information—knowing where the enemy is, what they’re planning, and how to stop them before they attack. During World War II, the German military had a system to keep their plans secret. They used an advanced coding machine called Enigma, which scrambled their messages into something that looked like gibberish. Every day, the machine’s settings changed, making it nearly impossible for anyone else to understand the messages.
The Allies—the countries fighting against Germany—knew that if they could crack these codes, they’d have a huge advantage. They would be able to listen in on enemy plans and stop attacks before they happened. But breaking the Enigma code was like trying to solve the hardest puzzle in the world. It would take a human thousands of years to go through all the possible combinations to find the right one.
That’s where Alan Turing came in.
Instead of trying to solve the puzzle by hand, Turing built a machine that could do it faster than any human ever could. This machine, which would later be called the Bombe, could scan through Enigma’s possible settings and figure out the correct ones. It didn’t work instantly, but it was still much faster than anything else. Once it was up and running, the British military could read Germany’s secret messages. They knew where submarines were hiding, when attacks were planned, and what the enemy was trying to do.
One of the biggest victories that came from this was in the Battle of the Atlantic. German U-boats (submarines) were sinking ships carrying supplies from America to Europe. Without those supplies, the Allied forces wouldn’t have had enough food, weapons, or medicine to continue fighting. But once the Enigma code was cracked, the Allies could avoid the submarines or stop them before they attacked. More ships made it safely across the ocean, and the war effort stayed strong.
Breaking Enigma also played a huge role in D-Day, one of the most important battles of World War II. On June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, in a massive attack against the German army. It was an incredibly dangerous mission. But because of Turing’s work, the Allies knew what the German forces were planning. They had information about troop movements, defenses, and weak spots. This gave them a huge advantage, and the battle helped turn the tide of the war.
Historians believe that Alan Turing’s codebreaking work shortened the war by at least two years. That’s two fewer years of fighting, two fewer years of bombings, and two fewer years of soldiers risking their lives. It’s impossible to say exactly how many people were saved because of his work, but the number is in the millions.
Despite this, most people had no idea what Turing had done. His work at Bletchley Park was top secret. After the war, he wasn’t celebrated like other war heroes. He didn’t get parades or medals. Instead, he moved on to new challenges, thinking about what machines could do beyond breaking codes.
Some people change the world in ways that everyone can see—leaders give speeches, astronauts fly into space, and inventors build things you can touch. But sometimes, the people who change history do it quietly, working behind the scenes. Alan Turing was one of those people.
He wasn’t famous when he was alive. He didn’t win a war by leading an army or become a hero by flying a plane. Instead, he used his brain, his love of math, and his ability to solve impossible problems. And because of that, he helped end World War II faster, saved millions of lives, and even laid the foundation for the computers we use today.
Alan Turing was born in England in 1912. From the time he was a kid, he loved puzzles. He wasn’t the type of person who just accepted things as they were. If someone told him a rule, he wanted to know why it existed. If something seemed confusing, he wouldn’t stop thinking about it until he figured it out. That’s the kind of mind he had—always looking for patterns, always searching for answers.
At school, Turing wasn’t like everyone else. He was brilliant at math, but he wasn’t always interested in the subjects teachers expected him to focus on. He’d rather spend time solving problems that actually challenged him. This sometimes got him in trouble, but it also helped him grow into one of the greatest problem-solvers in history.
As he got older, Turing became fascinated by the idea of machines that could think. At the time, people thought machines could only do what humans told them to do. But Turing believed something different. He thought a machine could be programmed to solve problems on its own, just like a person.
During World War II, Turing’s ability to think differently became one of the most important weapons the Allies had. The German military used a machine called Enigma to send secret messages. These messages were impossible to understand unless you had the right code. And the code changed every single day. It was like trying to solve a new, nearly impossible puzzle every morning.
The British government needed someone who could figure out a way to break Enigma’s codes. Turing was the perfect person for the job. He and a team of codebreakers worked at a top-secret place called Bletchley Park. They didn’t have much time. Every moment they spent trying to crack the code, soldiers and civilians were in danger.
Turing didn’t just break the code—he built a machine to do it. This machine, called the Bombe, could find the Enigma settings much faster than humans could. Once it worked, the Allies were able to read German messages in secret. They knew where attacks would happen before they did. They could stop submarines from sinking ships. They could win battles that might have been lost.
Historians believe that Turing’s work shortened the war by at least two years. That means millions of people who might have died in battle or bombings survived. And yet, because his work was classified, most people didn’t know what he had done.
Even after the war, Turing didn’t stop thinking about the future. He kept working on his idea that machines could think. The concept he came up with, now called the “Turing Test,” is still used today to determine whether a computer can think like a human. It’s part of what led to artificial intelligence—the technology behind things like voice assistants, self-driving cars, and smart robots.
Why his story matters
Wars aren’t just fought with soldiers and weapons. They’re also fought with information—knowing where the enemy is, what they’re planning, and how to stop them before they attack. During World War II, the German military had a system to keep their plans secret. They used an advanced coding machine called Enigma, which scrambled their messages into something that looked like gibberish. Every day, the machine’s settings changed, making it nearly impossible for anyone else to understand the messages.
The Allies—the countries fighting against Germany—knew that if they could crack these codes, they’d have a huge advantage. They would be able to listen in on enemy plans and stop attacks before they happened. But breaking the Enigma code was like trying to solve the hardest puzzle in the world. It would take a human thousands of years to go through all the possible combinations to find the right one.
That’s where Alan Turing came in.
Instead of trying to solve the puzzle by hand, Turing built a machine that could do it faster than any human ever could. This machine, which would later be called the Bombe, could scan through Enigma’s possible settings and figure out the correct ones. It didn’t work instantly, but it was still much faster than anything else. Once it was up and running, the British military could read Germany’s secret messages. They knew where submarines were hiding, when attacks were planned, and what the enemy was trying to do.
One of the biggest victories that came from this was in the Battle of the Atlantic. German U-boats (submarines) were sinking ships carrying supplies from America to Europe. Without those supplies, the Allied forces wouldn’t have had enough food, weapons, or medicine to continue fighting. But once the Enigma code was cracked, the Allies could avoid the submarines or stop them before they attacked. More ships made it safely across the ocean, and the war effort stayed strong.
Breaking Enigma also played a huge role in D-Day, one of the most important battles of World War II. On June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied soldiers landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, in a massive attack against the German army. It was an incredibly dangerous mission. But because of Turing’s work, the Allies knew what the German forces were planning. They had information about troop movements, defenses, and weak spots. This gave them a huge advantage, and the battle helped turn the tide of the war.
Historians believe that Alan Turing’s codebreaking work shortened the war by at least two years. That’s two fewer years of fighting, two fewer years of bombings, and two fewer years of soldiers risking their lives. It’s impossible to say exactly how many people were saved because of his work, but the number is in the millions.
Despite this, most people had no idea what Turing had done. His work at Bletchley Park was top secret. After the war, he wasn’t celebrated like other war heroes. He didn’t get parades or medals. Instead, he moved on to new challenges, thinking about what machines could do beyond breaking codes.