£50 note honour is fitting tribute to codebreaker Alan Turing who changed science and society – The Yorkshire Post says

AS a Second World War code-breaker, a man who played a pivotal role in the development of early computers and who laid the foundations for development of artificial intelligence, Alan Turing should have been fêted.
By YP Comment
Published 16th Jul 2019, 06:45 BST
Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, during the announcement that Second World War code-breaker Alan Turing has been selected to feature on the next £50 note, at Science and Industry Museum, Manchester. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA WireGovernor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, during the announcement that Second World War code-breaker Alan Turing has been selected to feature on the next £50 note, at Science and Industry Museum, Manchester. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire
Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, during the announcement that Second World War code-breaker Alan Turing has been selected to feature on the next £50 note, at Science and Industry Museum, Manchester. Picture: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

Instead his life ended in tragedy – being found dead at the age of 41 from cyanide poisoning after a conviction for “gross indecency” for being homosexual two years before had resulted in him agreeing to undergo chemical castration to avoid prison and losing his security clearance with GCHQ.

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In the decades since, there have been great efforts to right these wrongs, with a Royal pardon granted in 2014. It also led to the Government exonerating other men convicted of similar historical indecency offences under what became known as the ‘Alan Turing law’.

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Now he has been given the honour as the next person to feature on the £50 note; a fitting tribute to a man who changed society 
as well as science.

Related topics:Yorkshire PostBletchley ParkScarboroughGovernment