10 Smartest Human Beings Of All Time

10. Alan Turing

The story of Alan Turing was popularised with the release of The Imitation Game in 2014. Though the film deviated from historical fact, the real-life Turing was still a remarkable individual.

During his childhood, he developed an interest in maths and science. And due to his intellect, he gained a place at King’s College Cambridge and left with a first-class degree. This was followed by further research into probability theory and algorithms. Whilst this is all very impressive, it’s Turing’s activities during the Second World War that secured his place in the history books.

Following the declaration of war, Turing entered the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Using the work of Polish mathematician Marian Rejewski as a baseline, Turing developed a machine called 'the bombe'. The machine enabled the British to crack the device known as Enigma and decrypt German messages.

Historians have estimated that cracking Enigma shortened the war by more than two years, saving fourteen million lives as a consequence. In addition to this amazing feat, Turing’s machine also led to the development of the computer technology you're reading this very article on.