Alan Turing exhibition

This coming Saturday (23 June) marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing. During his short and ultimately tragic life, Turing was one of the key pioneers of early computing. In 1936, at the age of 24, he published a paper which described the concept of a 'universal computing machine'. He went on to design one of the very first computers.

Turing also laid the foundations for the modern science of artifical intelligence - his 'Turing test' remains a core element of the philosophy of 'thinking machines'.

He is, however, perhaps best known for his wartime codebreaking work at Bletchley Park, where machines and processes were used to crack the German 'Enigma' messages. The work performed by Turing and the rest of the site's cryptoanalysts is commonly thought to have shortened World War II by as much as two years.

To celebrate the centenary of Turing's birth, Britain's Science Museum has opened an exhibition on his life. MSN paid a visit to see what is on show.