Carol Rifelj Faculty Lecture Series: Michael Olinick - The Enigma of Alan Turing’s Death

Michael Olinick, Department of Mathematics, will give a talk as part of the 2020-21 Carol Rifelj Faculty Lecture Series: “The Enigma of Alan Turing’s Death: Suicide, Accident or Political Assassination?”

Alan Turing was a brilliant British mathematician and codebreaker who created the disciplines of computer science and artificial intelligence. His cracking of the German Enigma cipher in World War Two saved millions of lives. The cause of his mysterious death shortly before his 42^nd birthday continues to be debated 65 years later. Major theories include suicide, accident, suicide made to appear an accident, and murder by British or American intelligence agencies. We’ll review the evidence for each these explanations and discuss how knowing the truth would affect our understanding of Turing and his times.

Please register in advance here.