Alan Turing was one of the first pioneers in computer science.  His integration of mathematical algorithms and nature lead him to develop the theory of  "The Turing Machine" before the existence of computers. These findings are important because they helped pioneer the concepts of artificial intelligence and digital computers.

 Turing's vision of the Turing machine is very similar to some of today's computers. His machine, for example, could read a series of ones and zeros from a tape describing the steps that need to be done to solve a problem or perform a task.  The Turing machine reads each step, performs them and produces a proper answer.  Although this concept does not sound compelling in 1998, during the 1950's when Turing introduced his idea of a Turing machine (a machine that can do anything it is instructed to do), computers were designed for a particular purpose and were limited in their range of diversity and implementation.

  To test for artificial intelligence, Turing developed the Turing's test.  The purpose of this examination was to confirm the presence of an intelligent machine.  In this test, a person would ask questions through a keyboard to a person and a machine.  If the person could not distinguish the person from the machine after an extended period of time, the machine would be called intelligent.  This procedure is currently used in the field of computers and artificial intelligence.

 Although it is very probable that Turing's ideas of a thinking machine is not too far away, many of his ideas are currently used in the field of computer science.  Algorithms, for example, are utilized in every computer program for digital computers.  Although Turing machines function in a very simple manner, they can undergo any operation a contemporary computer can..

Author:Henry Sheen

References:
 Herken, Rolf.  The Universal Turing Machine:  A Half Century Survey.  Oxford, NY:  Oxford University Press, 1988.

http://obiwan.uvi.edu/computing/turing/work.htm