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| Petition: Put Alan Turing on the next £10 note | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 3 2012, 10:49 PM (623 Views) | |
| CJ | Apr 3 2012, 10:49 PM Post #1 |
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A very minor case of serious brain damage
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I wasn't 100% sure where to put this, but I think this forum is probably the best place, since Alan Turing's work was closer to mathematics than anything else here. For our UK members, there's currently an e-petition going around to put Alan Turing on the next £10 note, which is due to enter circulation in the near future. Turing is known for his work in cryptanalysis during World War II, on cracking the German Enigma code; this invaluable aid to our armed forces is often said to have shortened the war by at least two years. He's also perhaps the most famous figure in all of computer science, and rightly so, due to the scale of the contributions he made; you may have heard of Turing machines or the Turing test, for example. However, I'm sure many of you are also aware of the much sadder side to his story. He was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexuality, and chemically castrated as an alternative to going to prison, and he died from cyanide poisoning two years later, aged just 41. Many believe that he committed suicide, although some, such as his mother, maintained that his death was accidental. Turing was, without a doubt, a great scientist and a national hero, worthy of far more recognition that he received during his lifetime. Fortunately, our government acknowledged this in 2009, when then Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an apology for the way in which Turing was treated after the war. However, I also believe that the contributions he made in a range of fields, and especially computer science, to be sufficient to merit depiction on the next series of British currency. If you agree, then go ahead and sign the petition. |
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| lamna | Apr 4 2012, 05:33 PM Post #2 |
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I don't think I will. Darwin made extraordinary contributions to science and perhaps only Newton exceeds him. Further more he's the only widely recognisable person on our money. We've got hundreds of heroes in Britain and only 3 canvases to put them on. Turing did a great deal for his country, but so did Wilberforce and Nelson and so many others. Why the ten pound anyway. Why do Adam Smith and Elizabeth Fray get to stay when Darwin, with his excellent anti-forgery beard, have to go? |
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| CJ | Apr 4 2012, 06:32 PM Post #3 |
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A very minor case of serious brain damage
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I must admit, I'm very surprised that the others are staying. Like you say, there are hundreds of heroes, so surely it's time for some new ones? |
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| lamna | Apr 4 2012, 08:09 PM Post #4 |
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No, the current ones are fine. What's prompted all this guff anyway? If they were changing the note anyway there might be a point to it, but as far as I can tell they aren't. |
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| CJ | Apr 4 2012, 09:13 PM Post #5 |
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It sounds like there's been a misunderstanding here, then. This is for the Series F £10 note, when it eventually gets released. They aren't suggesting that they change the note when they otherwise wouldn't have done, just to put Alan Turing on it. Presumably, the reason why they're suggesting him for the £10 note (as opposed to some other denomination) is because it'll be the next one to be converted to Series F. If previous series of the currency are anything to go by (where they've changed the people with every series), Charles Darwin and Elizabeth Fry won't be on the Series F £10 and £5 notes. The Adam Smith £20 note is already Series F (notice that they didn't keep Edward Elgar from the revised Series E £20 note), and he'll be staying put until Series G eventually gets released (probably in the early 2020s). |
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| lamna | Apr 4 2012, 10:55 PM Post #6 |
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So why should Turing get on the note? An apology for the way he was treated? Surely we should have a map of Ireland on there if we're apologising for what the British government has done in the past. His contributions to computing and the war effort were important and worthy of note, just not a ten pound note in my opinion. Wilberforce helped not only end slavery in our country but crush it. In the entire history of civilization people have been treated until. Abolitionists like Wilberforce changed that, and Britain went from an Empire built on slaves to a nation crusading to end it with such fervour that slavery is illegal in every single nation in the world. Slavery today is a dark and dirty thing, hidden and hunted down thanks to brave men like Wilberforce. Edited by lamna, Apr 4 2012, 10:57 PM.
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| CJ | Apr 5 2012, 01:43 PM Post #7 |
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I don't quite understand what you're getting at here. Is it merely an attempt to ridicule the notion of using the currency to recognize the achievements of a national hero whose government had treated him badly during his lifetime, by comparing it to putting something other than a national hero on the currency? If we're going to play that game, I could just as easily compare the Darwin £10 note to putting a map of China on the currency, to recognize the scientific achievements that its people have made (and continue to make) over the years. This is clearly ridiculous. As for Wilberforce, I can agree that he'd also be worthy of inclusion. If you want to start a "Wilberforce £10 note" petition, then you're more than welcome to do so, of course. In fact, I'd probably sign it. |
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| lamna | Apr 5 2012, 08:48 PM Post #8 |
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No its because I don't think he should get put ahead of other people just because he suffered. Ireland has also suffered at the hands of the British government, and has indeed helped protect our islands many time. I guess the idea that "saying you're sorry doesn't make it better" is too ingrained in me. It feels kind of hollow to me. Plus I hate change and like Darwin a lot. He was a real scientist and he's being celebrated everyday. To see him being replaced by anyone is bad enough, but a mathematician? I mean it's better than a footballer or something but really, someone who's good at sums? Edited by lamna, Apr 5 2012, 08:50 PM.
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| CJ | Apr 5 2012, 09:39 PM Post #9 |
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A very minor case of serious brain damage
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Well, I see where you're coming from now. Of course, we're never going to see eye to eye with regards to the subject of mathematics, but I can at least understand your position. |
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| lamna | Apr 5 2012, 10:33 PM Post #10 |
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I feel I have to be like that, given how physicists and mathematicians act towards the sciences of stuff like biology and chemistry. |
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