Alan Turing....a tormented genius, new £50 note with his image is launched today.

Alan Turing was born 109 years ago today, a new £50 banknote has been launched with his picture to honour his memory.




"Alan Mathison Turing OBE FRS ; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist.[6][7] Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of algorithm and computation with the Turing machine, which can be considered a model of a general-purpose computer.[8][9][10] Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence."

"Turing played a crucial role in cracking intercepted coded messages that enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic.[12][13] Due to the problems of counterfactual history, it is hard to estimate the precise effect Ultra intelligence had on the war.[14] However, Professor Jack Copeland has estimated that this work shortened the war in Europe by more than two years and saved over 14 million lives."



"Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts; the Labouchere Amendment of 1885 had mandated that "gross indecency" was a criminal offence in the UK. He accepted chemical castration treatment, with DES, as an alternative to prison. Turing died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning. An inquest determined his death as a suicide, but it has been noted that the known evidence is also consistent with accidental poisoning."





"The new £50 note featuring mathematician, code-breaker and computer scientist Alan Turing has launched today – the final bank note to switch from paper to plastic."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/new-50-note-alan-turing-do-old-banknotes-expire/

Had he not been shamed and persecuted for the simple fact that he was gay, who knows what this genius of a man could have further achieved?
He committed suicide at the age of 42, what a terrible, tragic waste.

Visited the love park where his memorial is recently. The new Bee sculpture is a super cool addition too.
Great life cut short by backward times.

Manchester has a very strong affection for Alan Turing. He studied here at Manchester uni and actually built the first modern computer here...named the Manchester Mark 1.

The Manchester Bee was first seen in the Industrial revolution, it symbolised the way ordinary Manchester people worked hard to build up their city.

After the Arena bombing in 2017, the bee re-emerged all over the city, it's now seen as a symbol of unity.

Alan Turing was the genius of Bletchley Park, which broke the German codes during WWII. He formalized of the concepts of algorithm and computation, which helped mathematicians understand and arrange what they were doing onto machines, thus formulating computer programs. Turing is the creator of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence.

To get a true picture of the man it is well worth  a visit Bletchley Park where there is a statue of Turing as well as a huge amount of information about him.
The extensive museum there gives an excellent insight into the incredibly complex and highly secret work that went on there throughout the war and includes a facsimile of The Bomb….the huge computer built from scratch to decipher the German Enigma code.
I live only about half an hour from Bletchley and have been there several times.
One of the top secret sub stations was an RAF base only two miles from my home and which is still  operational as an MOD joint services facility. It’s pretty moving to know that during the war dispatch riders carrying highly classified material would have ridden along the country lane in the tiny hamlet where I live, within a couple of meters of my drive entrance.
Turing was a true national hero and a greatly wronged man. It is fitting that his image should now be on our highest value banknote.

Absolutely splendid that he's being honored like this. He proved that nerds can be war heroes, too