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Turing, Alan Mathison

(Encyclopedia)Turing, Alan Mathison, 1912–54, British mathematician and computer theorist. While studying at Cambridge he began work in predicate logic that led to a proof (1937) that some mathematical problems a...

Turing test

(Encyclopedia)Turing test, a procedure to test whether a computer is capable of humanlike thought. As proposed (1950) by the British mathematician Alan Turing, a person (the interrogator) sits with a teletype machi...

Turing machine

(Encyclopedia)Turing machine, a mathematical model of a device that computes via a series of discrete steps and is not limited in use by a fixed maximum amount of data storage. Introduced by the British mathematici...

Eustace, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Eustace, Alan (Robert Alan Eustace), 1956–, American computer scientist and adventurer, b. Pine Hills, Fla., Ph.D. Univ. of Central Florida, 1984. He worked for Digital Equipment Corp., Compaq, Hewl...

Hovhaness, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Hovhaness, Alan hōvhäˈnəs [key], 1911–2000, American composer, b. Somerville, Mass., as Alan Vaness Chakmakjian. Hovhaness was of Armenian and Scottish descent, and many of his works are based o...

Greenspan, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Greenspan, Alan, 1926–, American economist, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (1987–2006), b. New York City. Influenced by the philosophy of Ayn Rand, Greenspan is a strong supporter of the fr...

Gilbert, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert, Alan, 1967–, American conductor and violinist, b. New York City, studied Harvard (B.A., 1989), Juilliard (M.A, 1994), and Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. After serving as assistant...

Lomax, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Lomax, Alan: see under Lomax, John Avery. ...

Paton, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Paton, Alan pāˈtən [key], 1903–88, South African novelist. A devoted leader in the struggle to end the oppression of the South African blacks, he served (1935–47) as principal of the Diepkloof ...

Bennett, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Bennett, Alan, 1934–, British playwright and actor, b. Leeds, England, grad. Exeter College, Oxford (1957). Bennett became a fixture of the British cultural scene as part of the satirical revue Beyo...

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