Turing Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom

This is Absolute Genius!

'Dive into a world of action...

'adventure...

'and explosions.'

'Each show, we'll introduce you to a different genius.'

'An amazing person, who had a genius idea which shaped the world.'

'And they will inspire us

'to come up with our own genius idea at the end of each show.'

'But will it be any good?'

'Will it be any good?! It'll be...'

BOTH: 'Absolute genius!'

'Today, we play with weird wartime machines...'

It's X.

'..and decode top-secret messages...'

Bratwurst!

'..as we meet a genius who used numbers to invent something that can

'control a city and send a rocket into space...

-And lift-off.

-'The computer.'

MONKEYS CHATTER

Today, we meet a man who was so clever, so inspirational,

so intelligent, it's frightening.

A mathematical mastermind whose brilliant brain helped win

World War II.

Yeah, a man who came up with a truly world-changing idea -

the modern computer!

Ladies and gentlemen, it's the extraordinary Alan Turing!

Morning!

Inspired by his genius, we're going to be coming up with our own

genius and spectacular idea later on in the show.

We'll be going head-to-head,

each designing a firework display on computer.

This meteor is stronger, it's harder, and it's faster.

And it's going to be judged by an audience of thousands.

CHEERING

But first, let's find out a little bit more

about this very clever chap.

Born in London in 1912, Alan Turing showed his genius at an early age.

He was brilliant at maths at school

and went on to study it at Cambridge University.

Today, we take computers for granted and use them

for so many different things.

Computers can fly a jet aeroplane and send a rocket into space.

But when Turing was a young man, the modern computer did not even exist.

Alan Turing's genius was understanding different

kinds of code.

In World War II, his brilliant brain helped defeat Nazi Germany.

He solved incredibly difficult codes that used jumbled up letters of

the alphabet to hide the meaning of secret messages sent by the enemy.

But Turing's genius was realising that another kind of code,

using numbers, could be used

to create something that would change the world.

He called it the "universal computing machine".

His universal computing machine was a brilliant idea.

Imagine a machine that could do your homework for you.

Not just any old sums, like a calculator,

but any kind of problem you could think of.

Yeah, now, that idea became what we now call the computer.

But the genius of Turing's computer was that it was the first

that could do loads of things.

Before Turing could turn his idea into a real, working computer,

he had to help Britain win World War II.

During the war, Britain's enemy - Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler -

was sending secret messages to its submarines by using something

called the Enigma code.

This code jumbled up letters of the alphabet in a very clever way.

It meant that German submarines could sneak up with no warning

on British ships, and sink them.

It was the job of Turing, and people like him

who were good at maths and solving puzzles, to break the Enigma code.

If Turing could break the code, it could mean

the difference between Britain winning or losing the war.

No pressure, then!

'To find out just how difficult it was for Turing to break Enigma,

'we've come to the Centre for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge.'

Meet Dr James Grime.

He's a mathematician who knows loads about the Enigma code.

James, the Enigma code,

was this the first time that anyone had sent secret messages in war?

No, this kind of idea goes way back.

I mean, it goes as far back at least as this guy.

-Who's that?

-Ah, it's Julius Caesar.

Yeah, this is Julius Caesar, the Roman geezer!

Leader of Rome 2,000 years ago.

Now, Julius Caesar, he needs to send secret messages.

And he had a code that he used to use.

To show you how it works, I've got this little prop here.

I've got a big wheel there and a small wheel on the inside.

On the outside, I've got the alphabet.

On the inside, I've got the alphabet again - A to Z.

Now, if I want to send a code, I could shift this alphabet

on the inside one place across.

So, now, A becomes B, B becomes C...

-So if I want to say something simple...

-Dick.

-OK.

-D. And D will become E.

-Yeah.

I will become a J. C will become D and K, L.

-"Ejdl".

-So you'd send that to the other guy...

-"Ejdl".

..and they could use this wheel to then decode the message

-and get the original message back.

-Very clever, very clever.

The Julius Caesar code, then, is pretty straightforward, really.

But the Enigma code that Alan Turing was trying to break

was much more complicated.

This is an original Enigma machine from World War II.

It's what the Germans used to create their secret codes.

Each time you press a key,

it turns that letter into another letter, shown by a light.

But these turning rotors mean the machine changes the code

each time a key is pressed.

So if you press the same letter again and again, like A, for instance,

it will turn into a different new letter each time.

A brilliant way to create a secret message.

So your chances of working out the meaning of your code

are pretty much zero.

The Germans thought this was an unbreakable code.

Yes, it really did my head in.

It's X.

'What made Enigma so brilliant

'is that the same machine could both create...'

'and decode a secret message.'

Right, be nice to see what it says.

X.

I.

M. X.

-Ahem! Bratwurst.

-Bratwurst.

-It's German for "sausage".

It's his favourite type of sausage as well.

Now, what made it even harder for Turing to break the code was

that the Enigma machine could be set differently each time it was used.

That meant there were literally millions of possible solutions

to this code.

The number of ways you can set the Enigma machine

is 159 million million million.

But how did Turing even begin to try and crack the Enigma?

It must have been impossible.

For most people, yes, but not Alan Turing.

He helped invent a special code-breaking machine

called the Bombe.

Using some very clever guesswork, the Bombe was designed to go through

all the possible ways an Enigma code could be set on any given day.

It could rule out all the wrong settings.

What you're left with must be the correct setting.

And then you could use that and then you could break the code.

-If you want to see a working Bombe machine...

-Yeah?

-you need to go to Bletchley Park.

-Where's Bletchley Park?

Bletchley Park? Buckinghamshire.

-Hm!

-We love Buckinghamshire!

Meet genius helper Tom Briggs.

He knows all about Bletchley Park in World War II.

Tom, what did Alan Turing do here at Bletchley?

He was one of thousands of people who were working for what was

then known as the Government Code and Cypher School.

There were thousands of people here breaking codes?

Thousands of people doing

lots of different jobs towards code-breaking.

Oh, right, so it was all pretty hush-hush around here?

It was top secret.

Nobody was allowed to know what anybody else was doing.

And if the enemy had found out what was happening here, they'd

have changed their codes and we'd have been back to square one.

So you did your job and that was it,

-you didn't know what anyone else was doing?

-Nope.

Turing and his fellow code-breakers were under huge pressure,

because the quicker they broke Enigma,

the better the chance British ships had of avoiding German submarines.

BOOM!

Meet Jean Valentine.

She worked at Bletchley during the war,

operating the Bombe machine that Turing had helped design.

We are so excited to see this, the Bombe.

But what did it actually do?

-Well, you saw Enigma, didn't you?

-Mm, we did.

This is 36 Enigmas, all going round, looking for this one answer.

-Can we see it working?

-Do you want to turn it on?

MACHINE WHIRS Is that it? Ready.

-Ohhhh!

-I'm breaking the code! Huh?!

This Bombe is mimicking 36 different Enigma machines.

It's searching for a possible setting for the code.

And then, when it stops,

there will be letters showing on these three drums there.

Well done. You did that all by yourself.

Clever me. Once the machine's done its business,

do you get one answer - that's the code broken?

No. Every time it stopped was a possible answer.

-Ah.

-So we'd telephone to another hut where the people there tried it

-to see if they'd got the right letters.

-Who were you phoning?

-A number.

-Noel Edmonds?

-Ignore him!

-Behave yourself!

The person I was phoning didn't ask me who I was

and I didn't ask who they were, because it was none of my business.

Secrecy was crucial. The Germans had to think Enigma was unbreakable.

If they'd found out otherwise, they'd make the code

so difficult that even Alan Turing could not have broken it.

How important do you think he actually was during this

whole process and during the whole war?

He was vitally important.

If they say that this machine shortened the war by however

many years, this machine would not have existed without Alan Turing.

-So that's how important he was.

-Wow.

Without Turing and Bletchley code-breakers like Jean,

the war could have been lost.

We've seen how codes can hide secret messages.

But that's not the only thing that codes are good for.

It's the Genius Top Five!

At five, the barcode.

When you're in a shop, this is how the checkout computer knows

whether you've bought a bag of crisps or a grand piano.

Four - postcodes.

A collection of letters and numbers that mean your birthday cards

are delivered to the right address. Well, mostly!

Do you mind signing for this?

Three - dress codes.

Fancy dress, smart casual, or no trainers - a few key words

that tell everyone what they should wear on a special occasion.

Two - Morse code,

a way of communicating using sounds or lights that go on and off.

One - the secret code to Dick's safe in which he keeps his prized

golden bratwurst.

I'd love to know that!

We've learned how Alan Turing helped break the Enigma code.

But, remember, this genius also came up with the idea

of the modern computer.

'Later on, we see who's best at designing a special

'show on computer.'

CHEERING

You just wait and see!

BANG!

Now, breaking the Enigma code was pretty impressive for Turing,

but what we're really interested in is his work on computers.

Which is why we've come to meet a very special stand-up comedian.

Naturally!

Meet the Number Ninja,

otherwise known as Matt Parker,

a comedian who combines clever maths with cheesy jokes.

If you had six apples in one hand

and seven in the other, what have you got?

Big hands!

Why do maths textbooks always look so depressed?

They've got a lot of problems!

What do you think, Alan?

I don't get it.

Yeah. Great set, Matt, but can you tell us

-a little bit more about Turing's genius with computers?

-Yes.

But first, guys, I think you need a quick crash course

in the history of computing.

This strange-looking machine, built in 1935,

was what was called a computer before Alan Turing came along.

MACHINE RUMBLES Stop the machine!

This isn't a computer, surely? There are no apps,

there's nowhere to put your headphones...

Well, actually, the very first computers didn't have apps.

This is Hartree's differential analyser.

But the problem is, even though it was called a computer,

it could only do one thing.

This machine can solve equations, and that's it.

It could only do one job because, unlike modern computers,

it had no memory.

Matt, never mind the past, this looks like something from the future.

-What is it?

-I know, look at this - this is the Baby.

This was the first computer that actually had memory.

The memory was actually stored on one of these.

Is that a light bulb?!

I've got one right here. This would store 128 bytes.

-That's less than a tweet.

-That's it?! What?!

-Not many, then!

-Not megabytes, gigabytes...?

-Less than a tweet.

This is the world's first memory where you could store numbers,

and those numbers were the instructions

to run the whole computer.

You could actually load a program into the memory.

OK, so whereas the Enigma ran off letters, this runs off numbers.

Yeah, when it comes to computers, it's all about the numbers.

And from this, we can carry all the way through to modern computers,

right down to laptops and smartphones.

What is that?

-That is a computer.

-What?!

But I don't understand how that's a computer.

It looks like a circuit board.

To be a computer, it's got a few components that Turing

invented back in the 1930s,

and to show you what those components are,

-I've brought a laptop.

-Mm-hm.

We're going to need to pull this laptop apart.

Flip it over on the back. OK.

-Now, we've got some screwdrivers there.

-There's a bit there.

This is the hard drive, the memory,

so that's where all the information is stored.

-THEY LAUGH

-OK, that's one way to do it.

-Very efficient!

-Look at all that.

And this is the brain, the processor of the computer.

So Turing's genius was to realise

you could have these components and that the memory could store

numbers that then tell the processor what to do.

'Yes, way back in 1936, Turing had the brilliant idea that

'computers, like those we use today, needed memory to store numbers...

'and a processor to calculate them.'

'He realised that these parts could work just with instructions

'given by numbers.

'But how does that work? We need some help!

'This is Fran. She just loves experimenting...'

Whoa!

'..to help explain the ideas of our geniuses.' Agh!

'And she's sure to pop up just when you really need her.'

-Hello, boys!

-All right, Fran?

We seem to have magically joined you in what looks like

-an Italian restaurant.

-Yes.

-Never mind that.

Fran, we still don't understand how on earth a computer,

with just ten numbers, can do everything that it does.

Well, here's the interesting thing.

A computer doesn't actually use ten numbers,

it just uses two numbers - one and zero.

No, no, no! A computer cannot work just from two digits.

There's no way.

Let's make pizza.

Of course, yes, the science of computers via pizza.

'As usual, there's method in Fran's madness.'

Fran, what have you done there?! What a mess!

Because making a pizza, like giving a computer instructions,

is all about going for one option or the other.

Now, because we're not computers, we're humans, we're not going

to use ones and zeros. Instead, we're going to use "yes" and "no".

Essentially, it's the same thing.

-It's two different options - one, zero, yes, no.

-OK.

-All right.

-Right?

-OK.

-So, would you like some cheese?

-Yes, no?

-Yes.

-Yes.

Put it on your pizzas, then. Would you like some ham?

-Yes.

-No.

Lastly, would you like some pineapple?

-DICK AND DOM:

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Actually, no.

So, I've got three yeses. He's got a yes and two noes.

What does that all mean?

The important thing here is that they actually look different,

and all you guys did was answer one of two options -

a yes or a no.

But by doing that differently, you ended up with different results.

And, let's face it, we didn't even have that many options as well.

No, you only had three options.

So, in fact, you could have made one of eight different pizzas.

Ah, just with three options.

And here are the eight different pizzas we could have made

using a tomato base and a choice of cheese, ham or pineapple topping.

This is all well and good, Fran, and we are now starving,

but what's it got to do with computers?

Well, just like you guys used yes and no to make different pizzas,

computers use ones and zeros to carry out different tasks.

-Ahhh!

-OK, OK.

-Right, we get it now, yeah.

So, we give a computer instructions every time

we press the keyboard because that sends a number code to tell

the computer what option to go for.

You've got it, boys!

Ah, Matt, I think we have finally seen the light.

But can we see what Fran's taught us on a computer?

Absolutely. I have all these binary numbers here for you.

These are all different options.

-So many options, basically made up from ones and zeros.

-Exactly.

Number codes in ones and zeros like this are called binary numbers,

and they're a way of simplifying ten digits down to just two.

Now, because we're not all fluent in binary,

I've also got them as normal numbers.

And in this case, they're options for colours.

And the bigger the number, the brighter the colour.

So you can change your option for the brightness by making

the numbers bigger, and it gradually gets brighter and brighter.

-Oh, I see.

-And then the smaller numbers you can see are really dark.

And I've done three different colours.

I've got red, green and blue.

And that repeats all the way down my spreadsheet.

You can see, actually, it's a huge spreadsheet.

I have lots of numbers, all different colours.

So what I'm going to do is start to zoom out

so you can see more numbers at once.

-There's a picture appearing.

-An eye. Is it an eye?

Yes. If I zoom as far out as I can go, you can

-see that these numbers...

-DICK AND DOM:

-Ohhh!

..form a picture of you boys!

-Awful! You got some wrong numbers!

-So we're made up of numbers.

These are numbers of you.

And this is Turing's incredible idea,

that absolutely anything can be turned into numbers.

Ain't that something!

But not everyone with a computer is a genius.

It's the Not So Genius Idea!

In 2008, in America, a man worried about burglars stealing his computer

while he was away on holiday

decided to hide his laptop in the oven.

Unfortunately, his wife returned from holiday before he did,

and turned on the oven to cook a chicken!

The bird got roasted and so did his laptop.

So, there you have it, a dangerous and not so genius place

to put your computer.

And it goes without saying, do not try this at home!

And don't FRY this at home either! Ha-ha-ha!

OK, we've seen how number codes are behind everything that

a computer does.

And with enough number codes,

computers can do incredibly complicated things,

and us lot often don't even know it!

Here at Transport for London's headquarters,

a supercomputer that controls 3,000 traffic lights across London.

It uses a clever system called SCOOT.

That stands for Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique.

Catchy name, eh?

But what SCOOT does is use sensors buried in the road

that measure how many cars are passing over.

It crunches those numbers

and changes the timings on the lights to help keep the traffic flowing.

Right, here goes. Drive on, driver.

Time to see this ingenious traffic computer system in action.

Meet traffic controller Neil Wood.

With the help of SCOOT and CCTV cameras,

Neil's going to follow Dick's taxi along London's streets.

Have you got our lovely flags out?

The royal Dick and Dom flags are waving.

We can see you. Let me zoom in.

How much longer for these lights?

All right, all right.

It's changing now.

-OK, it's changing now, right now.

-Yes, they are!

Ha-ha! They changed.

Coming up to St George's Circus.

Oh, is that you? Yeah, there you go.

Where is he?

Oh, yeah, I can see you now.

Move your camera about a bit, Dom.

-I'm going up.

-Up.

I'm going down.

Weird that he can see me

on those cameras in a car in the middle of London.

Bit of traffic ahead here.

Yeah, we're just looking at that, seeing what SCOOT's doing.

-Go on, SCOOT, how are you going to sort THIS one out?

-Right now?

-Yeah.

Rich, Neil's actually going to sort this problem out right now.

He's going to try and make this traffic flow

a little bit more freely for you.

Excellent. Well, it's on green. We're starting to move!

Even though SCOOT is constantly changing the traffic light timings,

Neil can still make adjustments of his own.

Well, thank you very much! We're moving!

Nearly home. The eagle has nearly landed.

You'll see me in a minute. I'm just coming to the end of the street.

Now, really, this is an amazing bit of kit.

It's all thanks to Alan Turing, really.

We managed to free up some of the red lights to go green

so that he can get round it a lot quicker

and we've tracked him all the way round.

Really, this is genius.

Right, now kiss that bloke! HE SMACKS HIS LIPS

LAUGHTER

Now, that WAS a computer programme. Brilliant!

Yeah, and it's all down to Turing's original idea.

And it's given us inspiration for our own genius idea.

Yeah, we're going to create and control something very special

-using a computer.

-Something spectacular!

-Yeah, something explosive!

-Fireworks!

Our own genius computer-controlled fireworks extravaganza!

Our Genius Idea - use computer code to put on a scorcher of a show.

Yes, we're going to each design on computer

our own firework spectacular and set it to music.

The challenge - will our virtual display be good enough

to turn into a real firework display

that will wow an audience of thousands?

The problem - neither of us are computer programmers,

and we can't be trusted with explosives.

BANGING

Meet Joe Webb.

He's a pyro-musical choreographer and he's going to help us

each design a minute-long display on computer.

Joe, what exactly does a pyro-musical choreographer actually do?

It's some title, I've got to say.

We design fireworks with music on the computer on a grand scale.

But how do you design a display on a computer?

Well, you start off with a music file...

And that is exactly what we owe to Turing,

cos here you've taken a music song and you've turned it into numbers.

Ah, you showed us where numbers represent colours,

-and now Joe's showing us where numbers represent sounds.

-Exactly.

'Right, I'm designing my display first and I've chosen my music.'

-Nice one!

-So how many fireworks do you think we're going to use?

-About one a second.

-One a second!

We've got a nice slice called a dragon slice.

IN DRAMATIC VOICE: A dragon slice!

I like the sound of this.

'Enough of that. Now it's my turn to design.'

-So you want to use Rock It by Sub Focus?

-Yeah.

It's meatier, it's stronger, it's harder and it's faster

than Dom's tune. "Bang, bang, bang."

-What have you got in mind?

-A few mines, a few comets.

Should kick in quite nicely with a bit of fireworks behind it.

The computer's going to be working at full pelt on this tune.

It's going to smash yours out the water.

Yeah, nice! That's great!

And I take it, with a display like this,

you're going to use far more fireworks, aren't you?

Yeah, we'll use about 125 in this one.

And how long's the track?

It's a minute and nine seconds.

-More bang for your buck!

-How many's that per...?

It's about 1.811 fireworks per second.

Oh, which is over 72% more than you had.

It's a good job we've got a mathematician here, really, isn't it?

It's the day of the real display.

As darkness falls, the last few fireworks are carefully laid

and wired up so they can be triggered by computer.

And a lot depends on that computer

because thousands of people are coming out tonight.

Yep, we're part of a big firework display at Barton-under-Needwood

in Staffordshire.

-ANNOUNCER:

-We've got Dick & Dom!

-You all right?!

CROWD: Yeah! DOM: Good!

Who's ready to see some fireworks?!

CHEERING

We've designed a virtual display

which has now been turned into the real thing.

It's down to you lot - yeah, all 5,000 of you -

to decide who the winner is.

Will it be me, Dick?

CROWD: No!

Or will it be the little fella, Dom?

CHEERING

You just wait and see.

See you in a bit, folks!

Right, here we are. Here's the truck,

which is basically where the button is that we press to make it all go.

Yeah, most importantly, there is the computer.

Three, two, one...fire.

MUSIC: "Hey Boy Hey Girl" by The Chemical Brothers

We're off!

Just like it was on the computer.

-Exactly the same!

-Yeah!

-Yeah!

-Oh, that's a good one.

Yeah!

Not bad.

Oh, yeah.

CHEERING Shout for Dom's!

Look! This is Dick's.

Ho-ho-ho-ho!

MUSIC: "Rock It" by Sub Focus

That looks fantastic.

There it is, in real life.

In its full glory.

All because of Alan Turing.

Aren't they good?!

But now the big test, people. Which one was the best?

So give us a big cheer

if you thought it was Dom's.

MUTED CHEERING

-I think it's unanimous, really!

-Ten people at the front!

So, give us a big cheer if you thought Dick's was better!

LOUD CHEERING

Winner! Winner! Winner!

I've been done.

Alan Turing - what a genius!

From his wartime code-breaking...

-Bratwurst.

-Bratwurst.

..to his truly world-changing idea of the modern computer.

An invention that can do anything,

from flying planes to controlling traffic.

-It changed!

-And means we can put on a firework display

at the touch of a keyboard.

Alan, you are... BOTH: ..an Absolute Genius!

Glad to be of service, boys.

Boom!

HE CHUCKLES

DOM SHRIEKS

Argh!

-It smacked me in the face!

-Dom's...

Oh, no!

What are you doing?!

Let me get it straight!

Oh!

What's all that?! What's all the black stuff?

THEY SHRIEK AND GIGGLE

THEY SHRIEK