How the Leopard got its Spots

Alan Turing is considered to be one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the last century. He helped crack the German Enigma code during the Second World War and laid the foundations for the digital computer. His only foray into mathematical biology produced a paper so insightful that it is still regularly cited today, over 50 years since it was published. In it he described how a set of ‘reaction-diffusion equations’ explain how the wonderful diversity of animal patterns may be generated.

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This article has been reprinted in Muse, the YouthAgency magazine. The agency is run by the National Association for Gifted Children and aims to inspire able students to cultivate their abilities.  pdf copy of the reprint.