I had my consciousness raised about Alan Turing the other day.

I'd heard of Turing, of course. Everyone knows about the Turing Test, which has emerged as the de facto benchmark for achievement of machine intelligence. And you may know that the ACM's most prestigious award, the so-called Nobel Prize for computer science, is called the Turing Award. (Winners include Alan Kay, Frederick Brooks, Doug Englebart, Niklaus Wirth, Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson...a literal who's-who of pioneers in our field.) That, plus the hazy idea that Turing was involved in using early computing machines to break German codes during World War II, was the extent of my knowledge.

I've read up on the eccentric genius because of a controversy that has arisen in his home country of England.

It seems that after his major role in saving thousands of lives and hastening the end of World War II, Turing was rewarded by being prosecuted for “gross indency.” Being homosexual was illegal in 1950s England. Turing lost his security clearance, which meant he could no longer work for the UK Government Communications Headquarters. Convicted of the crime, he avoided imprisonment by accepting chemical castration – pharmaceutical treatments intended to eliminate his sex drive. Two years later, at the age of 41, he committed suicide. It was a tragic end to a brilliant life.

Even without his contributions to the Allies in World War II, Turing would be remembered as the author of “On Computable Numbers,” a 1936 paper that established the conceptual basis for today's computers. Computer scientists continue to mine his 1950 paper, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” for insights. It was in this paper that the mathematician formulated the intelligence-identification game that has come to be known as the Turing Test. (A $100,000 prize from the Cambridge Center for Behavioural Studies is waiting for the first team to program a computer to pass the test.) At England's University of Manchester, Turing worked on the Mark 1, one of the first modern computers.

In 2009, English prime minister Gordon Brown apologized for the treatment Turing received from the government. “On behalf of the British government,” he said, “and all those who live freely thanks to Alan's work I am very proud to say: We're sorry, you deserved so much better.”

Some Turing fans believe the apology doesn't do enough, however. They are collecting e-signatures on a petition at the British government's official e-petitions site. “We ask the [sic] HM Government to grant a pardon to Alan Turing for the conviction of 'gross indecency,'” the petition says. “In 1952, he was convicted...Two years later, he killed himself with cyanide, aged just 41. Alan Turing was driven to a terrible despair and early death by the nation he'd done so much to save. This remains a shame on the UK government and UK history.”

Next year – 2012 – marks the 100-year anniversary of Turing's birth. A large number of universities, research organizations, and software companies have come together to plan a celebration called the Alan Turing Year. Events are planned all over the world. If there is any justice, Turing will receive his pardon during his centenary year.

Web recommendation: I've never worked in a Fortune 500 company, but a couple of times I've served as a middle manager in what I considered large corporations. I remember that those companies lived according to an “e-mail culture.” Our workdays were centered around Outlook, and we spent considerable time reading, writing, filing, and organizing internal e-mail messages. I figured the overflowing in-box was a small price to pay for eliminating meetings that would otherwise be necessary...but maybe I was wrong. The CEO of a large British firm is banning internal e-mails, calling for increased use of telephone calls, tweets, and instant messaging. In an interview with a BBC reporter, Atos's Thierry Breton explains his reasoning. I found it completely persuasive. But don't take my word for it. You can check out the interview here: Atos boss Thierry Breton defends his internal e-mail ban. J.D. says check it out.

J.D. Hildebrand has written hundreds of articles for dozens of publications and online communities dedicated to software development. He didn't get much sleep last night, but has high hopes for tonight.