Straton of Stageira was a Greek philosopher who lived during the Hellenistic period. He was a pupil and successor of Aristotle, one of the most famous and influential philosophers in ancient Greece. Straton was the third head of the Lyceum, the school founded by Aristotle in Athens.
Straton is primarily known for his contributions to the philosophy of the natural sciences, particularly physics and metaphysics. He followed in the footsteps of Aristotle and focused on topics related to the natural world, causation, and the study of the physical universe. Straton and his school of thought, known as the Peripatetic school, carried on Aristotle’s teachings and developed his ideas further.
While Straton’s works have not survived to the present day, his influence on the development of Hellenistic philosophy and the transmission of Aristotle’s ideas is notable. The Peripatetic school continued to be an important center of philosophical inquiry for several centuries after Aristotle’s death, and Straton played a role in preserving and advancing Aristotle’s philosophical legacy.
Alan Turing was a British mathematician, logician, and computer scientist who made significant contributions to several fields, most notably in the areas of mathematics, cryptography, and computer science. He was born on June 23, 1912, in London, England, and died on June 7, 1954.
Turing is perhaps best known for his role in breaking the German Enigma code during World War II, which was a critical factor in the Allied victory. He worked at Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking center, where he helped design and build the Turing machine, an abstract mathematical concept that laid the theoretical foundation for modern computers. This concept is often considered the precursor to the modern computer.
In addition to his work on cryptography, Turing made significant contributions to the field of computability theory. He developed the concept of the Turing machine, a theoretical model of computation that allowed mathematicians to rigorously define what it means for a problem to be algorithmically solvable. This work is fundamental to the field of theoretical computer science.
Tragically, Alan Turing’s life was marred by persecution due to his homosexuality. In 1952, he was convicted of “gross indecency” under the laws criminalizing homosexuality in the United Kingdom at the time. As a result, he lost his security clearance and was subjected to hormonal treatment as an alternative to imprisonment. Turing died by suicide in 1954, and his contributions to science and the war effort were not fully recognized during his lifetime.
In recent years, there has been a growing effort to celebrate and acknowledge Alan Turing’s achievements and contributions. His life and work have had a profound impact on the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, and cryptography, and he is considered one of the most important figures in the history of modern computing. In 2009, the British government issued a posthumous apology to Turing for the way he was treated, and in 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted him a royal pardon for his conviction.
