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History.  As an artist, working with algorithmic art, I became aware of the beauty of the Universal Turing Machine procedure when I came upon a binary version presented by Roger Penrose in The Emperor's New Mind (Chapter II).  The  code  for a UTM, the meta-algorithm of algorithms, seized my imagination and would not let go. To me it symbolized a historical  turning point in the human ability to manage extensive rational procedure.  Many are not aware of the time when "computers" referred to  humans who did the computing.  Businesses required teams of  "computers",  namely human workers,  to do laborious computation that is now done with machines that are, in essence, Universal Turing Machines.  Those who recognize the power of  algorithmic procedure implemented with  computers  will  appreciate the beauty and power of  Alan Turing's contribution and recognize its special place in the history of  ideas.

What is a Universal Turing Machine.  The gating logic for circuit boards in all general computers descends from a logical procedure known as a Universal Turing Machine (UTM) .  The logic underlying this algorithm was outlined  by Alan Turing (1912-54) in 1936 and published in 1937 in the Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. His paper, “On computable numbers . . .”, planted the seminal idea, the meme, for all general computers.

Rationale for this work.  For me, the binary code of  a UTM algorithm, like a biblical text in medieval times, radiates an aura of authority even though it is difficult for most of us to comprehend. In the tradition of medieval manuscript illumination I have written algorithms to illuminate the code for a Universal Turing Machine and to celebrate its impact on our culture.   These illuminations are works of art and not exercises in computer science.  They are intended to celebrate the value and significance of  the UTM concept  in shaping  cultural change in the late 20th century.  Like medieval Latin that transcended the vernacular this code speaks a universal tongue. To celebrate  it more broadly I have also mounted several UTM versions, with documentation, on my web site as cyberspace illuminations. One version is presented as a “Self Portrait” of the computer with which it is viewed. See:  http://www.verostko.com/u.html.

Art & Algorithms.  Similar to composers of musical scores, as an algorist,  I create “scores” for drawing.  The engine for executing my drawing scores, in the most radical sense, is driven by the logic for a UTM. Whence, with a certain wonder and awe, I treasure the UTM texts that I have illuminated to celebrate the treasure we have inherited from those giants who have preceded us.

Roman Verostko, Minneapolis 2005. 

References:

Some documentation and binary versions of UTM's  are located on my web site at: http://www.verostko.com/turing-doc.html

For a collection of essays and further reference both general and technical see The Universal Turing Machine: A Half-Century Survey, Edited by Rolf Herken. Springer Verlag 1995, Wien, NY. 

Roger Penrose, THE EMPEROR'S NEW MIND: concerning computers, minds and the laws of physics (Oxford University Press, 1989).  Chapter II, "Algorithms and Turing Machines " discusses Turing machine  procedure.