388 | 35 RADIOlARIA: VAlIDATING THE TURING THEORy
Conclusion
At the end of May 1954 I showed my computer-generated contour maps to Turing: I knew noth-
ing about Radiolaria at this stage. He immediately asked me to get the Challenger Expedition
Report from the University Library, but told me nothing about its content. Excitedly I studied
the drawings of Radiolaria, looking for matches with my computer-generated shapes, and dis-
covered the close matches shown in Fig. 35.7. It seemed a tremendous breakthrough. Turing
had arranged to meet me again on Tuesday 8 June, but alas we could not meet for he died on
the previous day. He never learned of the triumph of his theory and the close matches that I
obtained.
Nevertheless, these close matches remain as a tribute to Turing’s genius and foresight, and
also to his love of nature. Today he is remembered and honoured for his work on codebreaking,
computing, and artificial intelligence, but he truly deserves simultaneous recognition for his
pioneering work on morphogenesis.^4
(a) (b)figure 35.7 The computer solutions superimposed on Circopus sexfurcus (left) and Circogonia icosahedra (right).
Reproduced from Bernard Richards, ‘The morphogenesis of Radiolaria’, MSc Thesis, University of Manchester, 1954, with thanks to
Dr Richard Banach.