--- title: TIME Explains How Computers Work, Alan Turing's On Computable Numbers description: You don't need a Turing Machine to understand it canonical: https://time.com/3883153/alan-turing-computable-numbers/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-28T16:30:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:46:35.439Z article:section: History og:title: TIME Explains How Computers Work, Alan Turing's On Computable Numbers og:description: You don't need a Turing Machine to understand it og:url: https://time.com/3883153/alan-turing-computable-numbers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1504164d69487343/69884d0da988ca67c36b23d5/1101780220_400.jpg?branch=production&width=400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 400 og:image:height: 225 og:image:alt: The Computer Society og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: TIME Explains How Computers Work, Alan Turing's On Computable Numbers twitter:description: You don't need a Turing Machine to understand it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1504164d69487343/69884d0da988ca67c36b23d5/1101780220_400.jpg?branch=production&width=400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How TIME Explained the Way Computers Work > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=25137a19-70cc-4744-a5bf-2838a8a879bc&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=25137a19-70cc-4744-a5bf-2838a8a879bc&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Explains: The Deep Web [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: The Deep Web](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/DQbujPQY.m3u8) (2:19)  _Published 2013-10-31. The FBI takedown of the online market Silk Road reveals the challenges of regulating the Deep Web. Here's what you need to know._  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 28, 2015 4:30 PM UTC  The Feb. 20, 1978, cover of TIME The Feb. 20, 1978, cover of TIME  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. May 28, 2015 4:30 PM UTC When Alan Turing submitted his paper [_On Computable Numbers_ ](http://plms.oxfordjournals.org/content/s2-42/1/230.full.pdf+html)to the _Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society_ on this day, May 28, in 1936, he could not have guessed that it would lead not only to the computer as we know it today, but also nearly all of the gadgets and devices that are so crucial a part of our lives. The paper demonstrated that a so-called Turing Machine could perform solvable computations, a proof that is commonly [seen](http://www.nww2m.com/2013/05/scitech-tuesday-alan-turing-submits-on-computable-numbers-for-publication/) as one of the original stepping stones toward the existence of modern computers. Though Turing, who [died in 1954](http://time.com/3599607/imitation-game-accuracy-benedict-cumberbatch-alan-turing/), never got to see a smartphone, his paper remains the touchstone behind the technology. For a 1978 cover story about “The Computer Society,” TIME broke down how computers work in easy(-ish)-to understand terms, thus explaining why Turing mattered so much: --- > “” --- **_Read the full story from 1978, here in the TIME Vault:_** [The Numbers Game](http://time.com/vault/issue/1978-02-20/page/58/) ## Transcript On October 1st in San Francisco, the FBI caught a guy named Ross Ulbricht who they suspect of selling drugs online through a website called Silk Road which is part of the Deep Web. And here is what you need to know about the Deep Web. The Deep Web is loosely speaking every part of the internet that is not indexed by search engines. Silk Road was on a part of the Deep Web of the Tor network. And what's interesting about the Tor network is it's a part of the internet where nobody knows who you are. It has complete privacy, complete anonymity. Anything you do there or say there cannot be associated with your identity or your life. The government actually created the Tor network-- it was the Navy in particular-- and they did this because intelligence agents find it very useful. Law enforcement uses it for dissidents, journalists. But unfortunately, increasingly, criminals use it too. A lot of criminals, who used to have to find dark alleys where they could do their business, now simply do it on the Deep Web. They sell drugs, fake IDs, hacking software, and increasingly, weapons and child pornography. The Deep Web poses a major problem for the government. The government built it, but it doesn't know how to control it. The laws that govern search warrants relating to technology and networks are very old. And as is generally the case, technology evolves a lot faster than the law does. Ironically, the need for Tor is even more urgent now than it was when Tor was first created. More and more, there are companies like Google and Facebook which make billions of dollars by collecting personal information. And we, as those users, are being asked to manage our personal information in ways that we never had to before. And Tor is the perfect tool for that. It provides all the privacy and the anonymity we could ever desire. Unfortunately, it has this terrible potential for abuse as well. Bottom- line, there really is no such thing as a bad technology. 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