Assignment 3: Artwork on Math History

 As a group (Ian, Ealin, Mariana) we have chosen tow write a short story on the life of Alan Turing and his contribution to the modern world.

Our short story (A clickable link).

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jfDYDyK-tOTb9baDtN9_-PbIMbMVTYFB3ef2qSi48s0/edit?usp=sharing (if you cannot click the link, you can copy this and paste into the browser of your choice)

Our presentation (A clickable link)

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TE2YRjlo5P95dFc6Xq-zM49bjyhZwmytjG_eXiVRstU/edit?usp=sharing (if you cannot click the link, you can copy this and paste into the browser of your choice)

 

Group Explication of Research

    As a group, we chose to write a story about Alan Turing, an aspiring mathematician who contributed an enormous amount during the WWII period, but died as a criminal. Through our research of Alan Turing using the references below, we thought his life story and mathematical contributions would best be told in the artistic format of a short story. It was a sad story, one that involved lots of significant historical events. Unlike other famous mathematicians, who have great tales still told to this day, it appears that not many people know who Alan Turing is. Opposite to how other mathematicians might have formulas and stories named after them, Alan Turing made a direct, significant impact on the development of computers that we all use today and we still do not know exactly how much he helped the Allies win the war. We find this phenomenal. Others might say Newton developed gravity, and hence we built lots of inventions on the idea. Others might say Gauss named lots of formulas that helped physicists construct wonderful experiments which led to industrialization of many practical inventions: cars, engines, energy generation, etc. However, if anyone asked us how math can save lives, we would say Alan Turing. He saved millions with math and computing. He did this as an unsung hero during wartime. He died for being homosexual, and it was not until long after he died that people recognized his contribution. We hope more people know about him, and I hope that learning mathematical history can be fun and exciting. The research into math history always has a lingering question: why do we care? Why should others care? Our future students will likely have the same question in mind. Why should they care about some mathematician back in the day when they developed some formula or principle? This is a critical question we must address with our students. We hope that as a fun little read, our short story will enable future learners to see how interconnected disciplines are, and how math can have very practical uses in our daily lives. Mathematics can have a profound impact on our lives and we are utilizing the remarkable discoveries from previous intellectual people who dedicated their lives to thinking and practicing. Ultimately, if we can reach just one more person through our short story, we would feel like we have done something motivational and impactful.