Alan Turing to appear on new £50 note

[midian182]

In brief: Alan Turing, the scientist and mathematician who helped break the Enigma code during the second world war, has been chosen to appear on the UK’s new £50 note.

Turing, who is widely considered to be the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, was picked from a list of almost 1,000 other scientists.

Best known for his work at the Bletchley Park codebreaking center during the second world war, Turing came up with techniques that helped break German ciphers, which included making improvements to Polish methods that could find settings for the Enigma machine.

After the war, Turing played a pivotal role in the development of early computers, cementing the foundations of artificial intelligence by asking the question of whether machines could think. His Turing Test, which determines whether a human can tell if an AI is a person or a computer through a conversation, is still used as a benchmark for AI.

Despite everything he had achieved for his country, Turing was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 for his relationship with a man. He was ordered to undergo chemical castration, and in 1954 Turing took his own life by eating a cyanide-filled Apple. It wasn’t until 2013 that he was finally given a posthumous royal pardon.

The final shortlist of 12 candidates for the £50 note included Stephen Hawking, Charles Babbage, and Ada Lovelace. The currency, set to enter circulation by the end of 2021, will feature a quote from Turing’s 1949 interview with The Times newspaper: "This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be."

Turing was played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the 2014 film The Imitation Game. It received eight Oscar nominations, winning Best Adapted Screenplay.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80966-alan-turing-appear-new-50-note.html

 

[colinf]

Should have been put on a note most people would use, rather than the most unused note in circulation

 

[Uncle Al]

So true!

 

[amghwk]

I wish those who "punished" him for his ideology or alignement rot in their graves. I'm no gay, but no one has the right to 'moral-police' anyone based on their own demented 'god-abiding' rules.

 

[Pop Mihai Ioan]

Too little, way too late, unfortunately.

 

[p51d007]

I wish those who "punished" him for his ideology or alignement rot in their graves. I'm no gay, but no one has the right to 'moral-police' anyone based on their own demented 'god-abiding' rules.

Considering how England is, surprised they allowed it, with the mayor and a LOT of the "refugees" being from another country, and how they treat people that are considered different.

 

[Hello world]

"Turing took his own life by eating a cyanide-filled Apple"

Please change this, it is not fact. It is a version of events popularised by people at the time who believed being homosexual was a mental illness. The investigating officer even claimed Turing was unbalanced due to his sexual orientation and used this as evidence for motive in suicide. Turing's friends and family never accepted he would have killed himself and claimed no proper investigation was done. The apple was never even tested for cyanide, there just happened to be a partly eaten apple by his bedside when his body was discovered. His housekeeper told officers he always took an apple to bed and never finished it.

Turing also had a lab in his home where he used chemicals, including cyanide, regularly. His colleges were quoted several times speaking of how reckless he was with lab safety. Finally, the coroner's report indicted the distribution of poison in his system was more representative of inhalation, rather than ingestion.

The "dramatic" poison apple story, like something out a Disney movie, was just another creation by ignorant people who viewed homosexuality as a mental illness of "unbalanced" people. The was no evidence the apple by his bedside was involved in his death, other than it being there. Whether Turing intentionally poisoned himself or whether it was an accident in his lab is unknown. What's very unlikely is that he did it by means of an apple.

 

[fadingfool]

And everyone knows apples contain arsenic.....

 

[nismo91]

In short, if you haven't watched The Imitation Game (2014), be sure to watch it! you'll thank me later.

 

[toooooot]

Good job humanity drive someone to death or murder, and then few generations later glorify them.
It looks like if someone isnt getting murdered or bullied, this person isnt doing the right thing.