 |
Thomas FlowersBritish engineer
Date of Birth: 22.12.1905
Country:  Great Britain |
Content:
- Biography of Thomas Flowers
- Career
- Contributions to Cryptography
- The Colossus Machine
- Later Life and Legacy
Biography of Thomas Flowers
Early Life and EducationThomas Flowers was a British engineer and the creator of the world's first electronic programmable computer. He was born in London in a family of a stonemason. Flowers studied mechanics and had an apprenticeship at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. He also pursued studies in electrical engineering at the University of London in the evening division.
Career
In 1926, Flowers started working at the General Post Office and later moved to one of the company's research divisions. In 1935, he married Eileen Margaret Green, and they had two sons. Flowers became interested in the potential use of electronics in telephone communication, and by 1939, he was convinced that a fully electronic system could be created.
Contributions to Cryptography
In February 1941, Flowers ventured into military cryptography when he was contacted by Alan Turing, who requested a decoding device for his Bombe machine. This machine was designed to crack German Enigma codes. Flowers then collaborated with Max Newman to develop a machine that could expedite the process of decrypting highly complex Lorenz cipher messages. Flowers proposed the electronic system project called "Colossus," which was built using 1800 electronic valves and operated with a single tape.
The Colossus Machine
The construction of the Colossus machine was initially met with skepticism due to its complexity and the large number of valves it required. However, Flowers successfully completed the first model by November 1943 and a second one with 2400 valves by June 1944. The Colossus machine proved to be instrumental in decrypting valuable information, including details about the Normandy landings and messages from Field Marshal Rommel. Flowers built a total of 10 Colossus machines for British intelligence during the war.
Later Life and Legacy
After the war, Flowers received a small government award, which was not enough to cover the expenses he had incurred in constructing the machines. He continued working at the post office and remained involved in electronics. It was not until the 1970s that Flowers' inventions were fully recognized, as he laid the groundwork for modern electronic communication systems. Thomas Flowers passed away on October 28, 1998, at the age of 92.
