A night out in town with UC researchers

university-of-canterbury

Fri Sep 28 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

A night out in town with UC researchers

Friday, 28 September 2007, 2:55 pm
Press Release: University of Canterbury

27 September 2007

The inaugural UC in the City Lecture Series gets underway next week at the Christchurch Art Gallery.

The six-lecture series is a chance for the public to hear from the University of Canterbury’s world-class researchers on topics ranging from helping young children become good readers through to food safety issues people face when they sit down for their evening meal.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Sharp says the lecture series is an element of UC’s town-gown relationship.

“This is a great opportunity for people to get an idea of the diversity of our researchers at UC, and learn something along the way too.

”Our speakers will demonstrate the significance and relevance of their research work. This is important for an institution like ours, which is partly-funded by the public.”

The first public lecture will be delivered by Professor Jack Copeland on Tuesday 2 October. The philosophy professor will be talking on Alan Turing who is regarded as the father of computer science and the first pioneer of artificial intelligence.

In 1936, at the age of 23, Turing invented the fundamental logical principles of the modern computer. Turing gave us the now ubiquitous "one-stop-shop" computing machine, the single slab of hardware that is able to change itself from word-processor into desk calculator into chess opponent into photo editor — and into any other machine we have the skill to create in the form of a program. Turing called his invention the "universal machine." Turing is also well known for his work as a codebreaker during WW2. At Bletchley Park he single-handedly broke Naval Enigma—a decisive factor in the Battle of the Atlantic.

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Professor Copeland is Director of the Turing Archive for the History of Computing at the University of Canterbury where he has taught since 1985. He has published many books on Turing and artificial intelligence. In June 2004 Professor Copeland was invited to give the Alan Turing Memorial Address at Bletchley Park to mark the 50th anniversary of Turing's death, and to lecture on Turing's life and work at London's Royal Institution.

In his lecture on 2 October, Professor Copeland will give an introduction to Turing’s thought, from the universal computing machine of 1936 through to his famous 1950 article “Computing Machinery and Intelligence”. He will also describe Colossus, the world's first large-scale electronic computer, used at Bletchley Park to crack the secret German messages.

The hour-long lecture will be held in the Christchurch Art Gallery auditorium beginning at 6pm.Those wishing to attend the free lecture should register their interest by phoning 364 2470.

ENDS

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