Alan Turing's Universal Machine is named greatest British innovation of the 20th Century The 'universal machine' is the theoretical basis for all modern computers Alan Turing created the theory in a paper 'on computable numbers' in 1936 After WWII, Turing made the first designs for a stored-program computer Number one: Mathematician Alan Turing's theory for a 'universal machine', which forms the basis for all modern computing, has been voted the greatest British innovation of the 20th Century Mathematician Alan Turing's theoretical basis for all modern computers known as the 'universal machine' has been voted the greatest British innovation of the past century in a new poll. The famous computer scientist came up with the theory, on which all modern computing is based, in a paper 'on computable numbers' in 1936. He described a device that would read symbols on a tape and proposed that the tape could be used to program the machine. However it was not until later that Turing's ideas were realised as practical machines. The 'universal machine' came top of a poll to find the greatest British innovation of the past 100 years. More than 50,000 votes were entered with Turing's theory securing 18 per cent - just one per cent ahead of the BMC Mini. 'We owe him a huge debt,' said Stephen Fry, who has championed Turing's innovation throughout the vote. 'His Universal Machine idea laid the logical and mathematical foundations of the technology you're using to read this.' Turing studied mathematics at King's College, University of Cambridge. With the outbreak of the Second World War, he became head of a code-breaking unit at Bletchley Park, home to the Government Code and Cypher School. He used his profound mathematical skill to design, with colleague Gordon Welchman, a series of huge electromechanical code-breaking machines known as "bombes." Changing the course of history: After the war, Alan Turing created the first practical designs for a stored-program computer called the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE), pictured The 'universal machine' theory laid the foundations for the first ever practical design for a stored-program computer which is still used today Following the war, Turing moved to the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington. There he revisited the ideas proposed in 1936 and devised one of the first practical designs for a stored-program computer, called the Automatic Computing Engine or ACE. Groundbreaking: Alan Turing also invented the code breaking naval Enigma machine, pictured, which cracked the Nazis' coding machine and stripped U-boats blockading Britain of their cover Turing's invention was one of 100 to be shortlisted for the national vote. X-ray crystallography - which revealed the hidden atomic structure of compounds and celebrates its centenary this year - took third place. Leading figures, including Prime Minister David Cameron, Professor Jim Al-Khalili and presenter Evan Davis, championed their favourite innovations and sparked heated debate across Twitter. 'The vote has been an exciting battle between the tangible products of British ingenuity, such as Mallard and the Mini, and innovative ideas, such as Turing's Universal Machine,' said Roger Highfield, Director of External Affairs at the Science Museum Group. 'We've started an interesting public debate about innovation, particularly how creativity and technology feed into scientific discoveries.' Ionic liquid chemistry was voted as the innovation most likely to shape the 21st century. 'We are delighted to win, as this will shine a very public spotlight on how a team of chemists can dramatically improve the quality of the environment for everyone,' said Professor Ken Seddon, Director of Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratories. Heritage: A sculpture of mathematician Alan Turing at the Bletchley Park museum where he had been head of a code-breaking unit