The all-pervasive nature of the general-purpose computer has made a profound mark on almost every aspect of our lives.

In honour and recognition of Turing's contribution to the field of computing, BCS and IET established the Turing Lecture in 1999.

The central seminal figure in this computer revolution was Alan Turing, whose outstanding originality and vision made it possible, in work originating in the mid 1930s.

Although it is now hard to see what the limits of the computer revolution might eventually be, it was Turing himself who pointed out the very existence of such theoretical limitations.