[Bradford] Crypto/codebreaking, Alan Turing and Colossus talks, Haworth, Sunday 18th May.

[Andrew Back]

On 10 May 2014 10:04, "Robert Burrell Donkin" <robertburrelldonkin at gmail.com>
wrote:
>
> On Thu, May 8, 2014 at 10:46 AM, Andrew Back <andrew at carrierdetect.com>
wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > Just wanted to let folks know about a series of talks which may be of
> > interest and that will be hosted at the 1940s festival in Haworth in
> > just over a week from now.
> >
> > These are free to attend and should be suitable for all.
>
> Do people need to register or anything...?

No need to register.

Cheers,

Andrew

> Robert
>
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Andrew
> >
> > //
> >                          The Station X Talks
> >
> > Codebreaking, Alan Turing and an Electronic Computer
> >
> > Sunday 18th May, West Lane Methodist Church, Haworth.
> >
> > Join us for an afternoon of talks from world-renowned experts on the
> > history of cryptography and cracking codes, Alan Turing and his
> > contribution to the war effort and computing as we know it, and the
> > vital work of two of Bletchley Park's unsung heroes.
> >
> > Please note that the talks are suitable for all and not just those who
> > are technically minded.
> >
> > * 01:00 PM — Cracking the Cipher Challenge, Simon Singh
> >
> > In "The Code Book", a history of cryptography, the author Simon Singh
> > included ten encrypted messages with a prize of £10,000 for the first
> > person or team to decipher all of them. He will be talking about how
> > he constructed the Cipher Challenge and how the winners eventually
> > cracked it. He will also be using the Cipher Challenge to give an
> > introduction to the history of cryptography and to demonstrate why
> > encryption is more important today than ever before.
> >
> > Since completing a PhD in particle physics at Cambridge, Simon Singh
> > has been a TV director, author and broadcaster. He directed on both
> > Tomorrow's World and Horizon, and his books include 'Fermat's Last
> > Theorem', 'The Code Book' and 'Big Bang'. He successfully defended a
> > libel action brought by the British Chiropractic Association after
> > publishing 'Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial'. His
> > latest book is 'The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets'.
> >
> > * 02:30 PM — Alan Turing: From Battle of the Atlantic to the Computer
> > Age, Professor Barry Cooper
> >
> > The 1940s saw some of the most dramatic developments of the modern
> > era, much of them hidden away from general knowledge for decades. At
> > the heart of these events was the brilliant mathematician Alan Turing,
> > whose decoding work was key to Bletchley Park's shortening of World
> > War II by an estimated 2 years. "The geese that laid the golden eggs
> > and never cackled" was how Winston Churchill described the Bletchley
> > Decoders.
> >
> > The second half of the 1940s saw the development of the first general
> > purpose computing machines, real embodiments of Turing's 1936
> > theoretical 'universal machine'. Turing himself was closely involved
> > in the designing, building and programming of these early 'stored
> > program' computers, which have so revolutionised every aspect of our
> > lives. He even made the first steps towards 'artificial intelligence',
> > with seminal work on neural nets - and his invention of the 'Turing
> > Test' for deciding if a thinking machine was indeed intelligent.
> >
> > In this talk we will try and capture some of the excitement of this
> > amazing decade of discovery, and shine a light on some of the
> > remarkable people who played their part.
> >
> > Barry Cooper is Professor of Mathematical Logic at the University of
> > Leeds. A graduate of the University of Oxford, his research follows
> > that of Alan Turing in its focus on the nature of mental and physical
> > computation. He is author and editor of numerous books, and Chair of
> > the Turing Centenary Committee, which coordinated the international
> > Turing Centenary celebrations.
> >
> > * 04:00 PM — On the QT: The Man from the Ministry explains the work of
> > the Boffins at Bletchley Park, Kevin Murrell
> >
> > Our chaps down at Bletchley Park have been going crossword crazy
> > decrypting messages from the Jerrys. But just when things seemed to be
> > going swimmingly and we were cracking codes left, right and centre, we
> > have picked up some fishy new signals that are keeping Hitler's own
> > messages secret squirrel or, Geheimnis Eichhörnchen, as they might
> > say!
> >
> > Brigadier Tiltman and Mr Tutte — darn clever blighters the pair — have
> > worked out what must be going on, but we are relying on a plucky chap
> > from the Post Office, called Flowers, to build us a contraption to
> > sort it out once and for all.
> >
> > This top-secret briefing, very much on the need-to-know-basis from a
> > Ministry official, will explain to a very select group the plans the
> > British have in the final push, and how a Heath Robinson contraption
> > has been replaced by some newfangled thing they are calling an
> > electronic computer to help crack the codes.
> >
> > Our Expert from the Ministry is being assisted today by Kevin Murrell,
> > who will become, many years ahead, one of the founders of The National
> > Museum of Computing and one of its trustees. Kevin is also due to
> > become the secretary of the Computer Conservation Society some 60
> > years hence!
> >
> > --
> > Andrew Back
> > http://carrierdetect.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Bradford mailing list
> > Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford
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