Alan Turing, the mathematician who pioneered the modern computer, has been chosen to appear on the Bank of England’s new £50 note. He was chosen from a list of nearly 1,000 eminent British scientists, and the bank said he was selected for his pivotal role in helping to crack the wartime Enigma code and the impact of his postwar persecution for homosexuality. Bank governor Mark Carney said: “As the father of computer science and artificial intelligence, as well as war hero, Alan Turing’s contributions were far ranging and path breaking. Turing is a giant on whose shoulders so many now stand.” Turing was prosecuted for homosexuality in 1952, and an inquest concluded his death from cyanide poisoning two years later was suicide. The new note will go into circulation in 2021.
