ABSTRACT
As early as 1834, Charles Babbage had conceived an automatic calculating machine. Babbage had intended to build his engine entirely out of mechanical components like gears, and given the complexity of the proposed device, it is not surprising that he failed. Aiken made this remarkable assertion in 1956 when computers that could readily be programmed to do both of these things were already commercially available. Alan Turing's father, Julius Turing, was a great success as a civil servant in India. In the spring of 1907, after more than a decade of service, he was ready for a leave to England. It was on the voyage home, via the Pacific, that he met Alan's mother, Ethel Sara Stoney. Mrs. Turing managed to spend a few months with the children in 1915, and in the spring of 1916 both parents made the voyage home. But this time the trip was dangerous because of the German submarines.
