On the afternoon of Wednesday, July 5, the EIL students along with Profs.
Berry and Dickerson and Peter O'Malley from IES visited Bletchley Park (north
of
London). Bletchley Park is where Alan Turing and his colleagues in Hut 8
broke
the (naval) Enigma code during World War II. The students witnessed
demonstrations of working Enigma, Bombe, Tunny, and
Colossus machines. The Colossus
was the world's first electric digital computer that was programmable.
The Colossus computers were developed to help in the cryptanalysis of
the Hitler's Lorenz cipher. Our NMC guide
for the afternoon, Robert Dowell, did a fantastic job explaining both the
history and design of all the early cypher and computing machines. Prior to exhibits within Bletchley Park, the
students were given a short break to burn off some energy on
the
jungle gym equipment, play outdoor chess, or just relax on one of the many lawns near the
Bletchley Park Mansion.
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