From Codebreaking to Computing: Remembrances of Bletchley Park 50 Years Later

In this 1992 interview Jack Good and Donald Michie discuss their cryptanalytical work during World War II at Britain's Bletchley Park. The technical aspects of Germany's Enigma and Lorenz Geheimschreiber, the code-breaking Bombe, Heath Robinson, and Colossus machines, and the personal contributions of Max Newman, Alan Turing, and Tommy Flowers are explored. Donald Michie, in the final part of the interview, offers some details on the origins of artificial intelligence research.
Catalog Number: 102645557

[@RWBHere]

I wish sincerely that modern TV programmes and interviews were made with quality as good as this series, without unnecessary and distracting flashy graphics and inappropriate and overpowering music. These interviews allow the audience to think for themselves and to recreate the situations in their own minds. Modern media is severely lacking, and indeed very restricting, in those ways. Interviewers also need to take note of the techniques of these hosts, who asked intelligent questions which set the interviewees off into insightful and informative answers which sometimes take several minutes to give completely. The interviewers also had the good sense to shut up and listen to the replies, without interrupting, thus allowing the conversation to go much more deeply into a topic, limited only by the Official Secrets constraints which still remained at the time.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Quite so. Recently, this issue of robotic computer controlled beings, has been raised again lately

[@peter3471]

Dr Doctor Donald Michie (and his then Wife Doctor Anne Mc Laren) were my 1st employers after I left school at The Royal Veterinary College London ,Department of Genetics. This was in 1957,

[@bernardcharlesworth9860]

It's would be nice to see the polish connection to code breaking before the war

[@MrDaiseymay]

There were TV progs about it,and the French involvement, BUT, by 1939, the war came and the Germans had altered the workings of Enigma considerably. It was like starting from scratch. But no doubting the skills guts and bravery , to get that vital machine to Britain.

[@blu3_enjoy]

The way this one fella just stops talking with no punctuation or even inertial indication is very good Lol

[@elizabethdelgado12]

I am watching this during the pandemic situation in 2021. Almost 29 years after this interview took place about a topic interesting and immensely valuable from the historic point of view. Shame the female interviewer was not well prepared.

[@mrFalconlem]

I disagree…she was speaking for the casual viewer…remember during the 80s hardly anyone knew about Bletchley park in the US, even the Navy depts Magic is still little known of today, Bletchley has got all the credit about 1/2 to much. the USA had 500 people working on intercepts.

[@MrDaiseymay]

@@mrFalconlem I disagree with your claim that the USA didn't recieve it's share of credit. There were several references to thire involvement , and contribution. Also the inportant creation, of the special relationship tween both country's.

[@vikkibendle1749]

I think the seating arrangement meant it was difficult for the female interviewer to partake and the male interviewer did not provide opportunity.

[@mediantrader]

Remarkable interviews. I watched because of Bletchley Park history but ended up entranced with Donald Mitchie. I did feel a bit sorry for the female interviewer with Jack Good but all the same a excellent program which stands up some 30 years later in 2022

[@granskare]

'bombe' was a Polish designation.

[@glutinousmaximus]

1:38:55 it was 'Deep Blue' _NOT_ 'Deep Thought'_ - that was Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy(!)

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

Well he's certainly nailed the look of an eccentric genius: 05:49

[@joe2grand]

notice how he says that turning the computer on and off solved many problems! sounds like things haven't changed over the years

[@Nic7320]

What he said was tubes are more reliable if you leave them on and avoid cycling them on and off.

[@MrDaiseymay]

I'm surprised to hear Donald Michie undermine the superior performance of the Colossus, over the American Eniac. A top New Zealand professsor and expert on Bletchley, stated that the big drawback with Eniac, was that it could only perform one instruction at a time. After which, it took most of a day to rewire the whole thing to tackle a new programme. Whereas--Colossus could multi task--and 2 years earlier.

[@ArumesYT]

Colossus didn't have superior performance, and on top of that was not a general purpose computer. It could one thing and do it well, which is why it was used for decoding (and training) ONLY until the British stopped using them around 1960. ENIAC was more flexible (Turing complete) AND faster. Also, Colossus did NOT multitask at all, and did not do multiple instructions at the same time either (multitasking and parallel computing are not the same!). BUT multiple Colossus machines could be set up to tackle the same problem, all doing an equal portion of the work, to reduce the decoding time.

[@mattgibbs73]

Personally I love the 2013 personal recollections thar John Mauchly's jaw literally dropped when he attended Prof Randell's History of Computing lecture revealling Colossus realising his ENIAC had not been the first electronic computer, I imagine the discussion with Coombs must have been highly interesting.

[@MrDaiseymay]

@@mattgibbs73 And Colossus 2 years ahead. The Americans immediately saw the Commercial potential for this amazing creation ( despite The head of IBM claiming that only a very few (can't remember the number ) commputer's would be necesary. Britain , sadly, was overwelmed by the power and further potential misuse of Colossus, to risk it being allowed into the hands of the commercial world.

[@tombouie]

Thk you

[@kilroy1963]

Where,s Bill tutt ans tommy flowers

[@taketimeout2share]

I thought people called Tommy Flowers played Ukelales. I couldn't think of a better cover name for someone so important. Fact is furrier than fiction.

[@ManInTheBigHat]

I like the windblown hair look on our Bletchley Park man.

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

Certainly reminisant of another famous scientist...

[@JeffMTX]

He’s a hip cat

[@adammoss5284]

I liked his theory of half-baked ideas XD

[@granskare]

I have read David Kahn's books.

[@mzk1489]

So which was the first stored-program computer?

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

EDSAC

[@MrDaiseymay]

@@tachikomakusanagi3744 What year was that ?

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

@@MrDaiseymay 1949

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

EDSACs design was based on Von Neumann's critique of the ENIAC design, which is the origin of the stored program computer concept. The ENIAC designers were too busy fighting their university over ownership rights + trying to sue Von Neumann (over that very critique) and being counter sued by the US Army, so they were slow to put any new ideas into practice. Hence EDSAC.

[@scottwilson9773]

Plain and simple. Artificial intelligence will be when computers are no longer answering your questions and researching their own.

[@Larkinchance]

The interviewer sounds like a prosecutor...

[@mattgibbs73]

His questions are structured to ensure the viewer appreciates he is a fellow who knows the subject, he mentions a lot of detail in a forthright, sometimes corrective manner which I'm afraid I don't care for - its a bit like he's inviting the interviwee to confirm the facts he is presenting. I'd much rather have listened more to the people who were actually there! There's a funny point at 19.18 where he misnamed the German Tunny as Colossus, Good points this out and the interviwer says 'correct' 🤣.

[@JeffMTX]

He is prosecuting some darn quality home entertainment

[@t2thei]

In memory of Alan Turing, I'd say.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Victim of the times he lived in.

[@mzk1489]

I once read a book by a noncom who had involvement without knowing exactly what it was - he described what I'm guessing was the Bombe (IIRC) as looking like a "Golden Idol".

[@Cashpots]

What numskull put the interviewee in the middle? Student director? You need to see the person head on.

[@jimmythepowerful]

Dr Mikey :D :D :D

[@nibblet-zv1uk]

Only a fool would make reference to the brillant Man's name, clearly you display gross ignorance of Celtic pronunciation !!!!!

[@jkbenedict]

Good god, just let the man answer the questions!?!?!?!

[@MrDaiseymay]

Here they are , 23 years ago, talking about the danger of artificial brains being a danger to man---which is what Stephen Hawking has recently warned against.

[@mzk1489]

People spoke of that much, much earlier - you could even go back to R.U.R., although those were biological.

[@EffectPlaceboThe]

Hawking was a physicist. Maybe the best. He was not an all knowing and all seeing God . What knowledge and consciousness even are is the territory of philosophers and psychologists... not physicists. Those theories are experimentally tested by computer scientists... not physicists. I've studied all three since the late 80s (degrees) are by anywhere near dangerous except people's perceptions. (Misplaced faith and reliance) such systems are fast... very fast at being approximate and niave (and being bound to the data given in both scope and completeness, highly ignorant and specific.) Rainman

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

George Orwell warned about it in 1949 - he pointed out that it would be the perfect secret policeman able to review millions of files on all aspects of any citizen

[@barek56]

Goode sounds like a peripheral character?? Oh, and the inteviewers suck at this...recommend they find new work!!

[@EffectPlaceboThe]

In all fairness, so much was tucked away in classified files,not not recorded at all for extra security or still underwraps due to ongoing utility (the algorithms) that much latitude must be given. Those still alive won't say m it ch about what they did other than in broadest terms (vowed never to talk)

[@astrecks]

@@EffectPlaceboThe This documentary was made in 1992, a full 8 years before the UK government acknowledged the use of the Colossus was for cypher breaking during WWII.

[@mattgibbs73]

You're right, at the beginning it's a bit terrible. The male interviewer (author David Kahn) fact dropping and correcting Goode's recollection makes painful to watch his style of questioning. I appreciate writing about codebreakig research he knows his subject but he's not there to put that across. The woman asking Dr Mickie to talk about how they shared the work and which qualities in the work one or other of them lacked is uncomfortable and tactless, bordering on embarrassing as they're both sat next to each other.

[@artandsigns1528]

So basically the extremely intelligent Jewish scientist will look like this.....I.J! My Man!

[@RoseSharon7777]

Welchman was the true brain behind the code breaking.

[@MrDaiseymay]

Yeah, naughty boy spilled the beans though

[@supertuscans9512]

By this time it really didn’t matter because so much information had come out and encryption metholodgy had moved on.

[@adammoss5284]

T/A is nevertheless a very important part of the 'whole' @@supertuscans9512

[@fraziermilak1931]

The level punch happily join because speedboat syntactically clear sans a obtainable feeling. noisy, abortive candle

[@tachikomakusanagi3744]

this. is. an. awkward. interview.

[@James_Bowie]

The guy introducing this is hilarious. Slurs his words and cannot pronounce statistics.

[@donkelley4835]

A classic "old Virginia" accent.