Why Alan Turing Will Appear on UK Currency – IMF F&D | DECEMBER 2019
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: MELINDA WEIR
- Published: December 1, 2019
Overview
- Alan Turing, along with a composite image representing some of his groundbreaking ideas and inventions, will appear on the reverse side of the new 50-pound notes, scheduled to be issued in late 2021.
- Article author: MELINDA WEIR; publication: F&D Magazine; December 2019.
- Turing is described as a mathematician, World War II code breaker, and father of computer science.
Turing’s contributions and legacy
- 1936 paper “On Computable Numbers” imagined the concept of modern computing and proposed a computing machine.
- Wartime work at Bletchley Park included developing the code-breaking Bombe machine and advances in decryption that, building on work from Polish mathematicians, led to cracking the German Enigma code.
- His team’s work is widely credited with expediting the war’s end, saving millions of lives.
- Postwar work contributed to creating the world’s first commercial computers and articulated philosophical and logical foundations for artificial intelligence.
- Cultural recognition: celebrated in books and cinema; the 2014 movie The Imitation Game was based on his biography.
Selection process and design rationale
- Turing was selected for the £50 after a months-long “Think Science” campaign by the Bank of England, which elicited nearly a quarter-million nominations from the public, later whittled down by a committee of scientists and central bank officials.
- Short list included Rosalind Franklin, Stephen Hawking, and Srinivasa Ramanujan.
- Sarah John, the Bank of England’s chief cashier, said the new £50 celebrates Turing’s influence as “a profound and inventive thinker of the modern digital age” and the legacy of “starting the computer revolution.”
Life, treatment, and posthumous recognition
- Turing (1912–54) was arrested and convicted of “gross indecency” for a private relationship; his government security clearance was revoked, ending his career. To avoid prison, he submitted to chemical castration. His death at age 41 was ruled a suicide.
- 2009: the British government issued a posthumous apology for Turing’s treatment.
- He later received a formal royal pardon.
- 2017: legislation known as the “Alan Turing law” was passed, pardoning those convicted under the long-rescinded antigay laws of the time.
Public response and symbolic impact
- Public response to the selection has been positive, according to Sarah John.
- John noted that Turing’s work resonates because people understand the importance of computers to everyday life and that his life story highlights past prejudices and “how far we still have to go in society.”
- Turing will appear on the reverse of the new £50 alongside a composite image representing his ideas and inventions.
Cash, polymer notes, and payments context
- The £50 bill was last redesigned in 2011 and will be printed on polymer for the first time; polymer is described as much harder to counterfeit, more resilient, and having a lower carbon footprint than paper.
- The £5 and £10 notes have already been issued on polymer, with the polymer £20 set to be issued in 2020.
- Cash use in the United Kingdom is declining: Just 28 percent of UK transactions were in cash in 2018, down from 40 percent in 2016, according to John.
- Despite declining cash use, Sarah John emphasized the continuing practical purposes and cultural significance of physical banknotes: “People really do care about these banknotes and see them as a symbol of our country.”
Banknote context
- Turing will join three other famous British figures on current banknotes: Sir Winston Churchill (on the £5), the novelist Jane Austen (£10), and soon the artist J. M. W. Turner, who replaces the economist Adam Smith on the £20 note next year.
From: Why Alan Turing Will Appear on UK Currency – IMF F&D | DECEMBER 2019
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- Why Alan Turing Will Appear on UK Currency – IMF F&D | DECEMBER 2019