

10,000 People Sign Petition to Honor Alan Turing by Putting Him on the £10 Note - NoBorders
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/10-000-people-sign-petition-to-honor-alan-turing-by-putting-him-on-the-10-note/254988/

======
andrewfelix
Not sure I value the positioning of ones face on currency as many do. But I do
love the man and while I'm here I'll leave this peculiar bit of foresight from
him which reminds me of Siri:

 _"One day ladies will take their computers for walks in the park and tell
each other, "My little computer said such a funny thing this morning."_

------
RossM
The petition, for any UK readers who might wish to sign it.
<http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/31659>

~~~
DanBC
A cultural note: Most online petitions are worthless useless spammy nonsense.

UK epetitions are different, because with enough signatures (currently
100,000) the topic becomes eligible for debate in parliament.

~~~
twelvechairs
All you really get with a UK e-petition after 100,000 votes is it being sent
to some low-end bureaucrat who may (or may not) forward it to the 'Backbench
Business Committee'.

~~~
ashconnor
There have only been a couple of issues that have been taken seriously in
parliament through e-petitions.

First was the details of the Hillsborough disaster and second was taking away
state benefits from those convicted during the London riots.

------
tomelders
Britain can never do enough to make right the wrongs it inflicted on Alan
Turing, but it should never stop trying.

------
vladd
There are priceless things, but for the rest, money represent the ability of
humanity to communicate and exchange economic value so I often think about
them as a symbol of what we've managed to achieve since the ancient times. And
just like we evolved to exchange promissory value on a piece of paper,
humanity made huge progress in self-governance and mutual respect. From the
dawn ages of absolute kingdoms we've evolved to constitutional monarchies and
democratic republics. We've abolished slavery, enabled universal voting in
most parts of the world and probably in some decades almost everyone will have
the right to marry the person they love.

Alan Turing was among the most brilliant persons of his time, yet in his
society he ended up injected with estrogen, which left him impotent (he also
developed breasts and one year after this therapy he used cyanide to kill
himself - <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing> ). If you're in UK,
please sign this petition. It would be a huge honor to have on the very symbol
of economic exchange Alan's face - a memory of our wrong-doings and of the
progress that we made until now and the one that is yet to come.

------
rmc
It is progressive to have a gay computer scientist and mathematician on a
note. A lot of current British national identity and history is built around
WW2, so "fought the Nazis" will also help the chances.

------
mjburgess
I've always been quite proud of having Darwin there, perhaps a commemorative
note?

~~~
antihero
I just think Turing is a great choice to troll the religious conservatives -
replacing a creationist with a homosexual.

~~~
alexchamberlain
You can be religious and still accept homosexuality. It's a shame it even gets
brought up. Let us remember Turing for being a great Mathematician.

~~~
ktizo
I think his homosexuality mainly gets brought up because of the manner of his
death.

For instance, John Nash was apparently stripped of his security clearances due
to being caught soliciting men in toilets, which wasn't even alluded to in the
Hollywood version, but given that he wasn't then arrested and driven to
suicide and furthermore is still alive and re-married (so we have to be
'sensitive' about him), this is not overly dwelt on by those who seek to tell
his story.

------
locusm
I wish Tommy Flowers contribution got more recognition too - maybe they could
put him on a fiver?

------
robertskmiles
I like having Darwin on the £10, but I'd like to have Turing on a note as
well. Maybe the £5 would be better, though that would mean getting rid of
Elizabeth Fry, who I believe is the only woman currently on the currency
(except Her Majesty of course), which may upset some people. The other options
are the 20 and 50, which have Adam Smith and Boulton and Watt, respectively.

~~~
aplusbi
They are "retiring" Darwin and will be replacing him with someone else anyway.
May as well make it Alan Turing.

------
geekam
Let's start similar petition for Donald Knuth in the US.

~~~
dfc
I realize you were trying to be cute but comparing the two individuals in this
context is tacky and makes light of the terrible manner in which Turing was
treated. Until our society advances more I think it is best to avoid using
homophobia as the basis of a witty remark...

~~~
aplusbi
The context of this is "put a famous mathematician on the £10" so it hardly
makes light of anything.

~~~
dfc
So the impetus behind this is purely to recognize Turing's contribution to
math?

~~~
aplusbi
Obviously not, it's near impossible to get into a discussion about Alan Turing
without bringing up the way he was treated. However British money already
features scientists (Turing, if selected, will replace Darwin) and this has
far more to do with recognizing Turing's accomplishments than his treatment.

There are many people who think that it's a good idea to feature scientists on
money and making that suggestion for US money isn't in anyway taking Turing's
treatment lightly.

~~~
dfc
You honestly think that months after the pardon refusal this has more to do
with recognizing his math/sci accomplishments than his treatment? Is the
atlantic in the minority for mentioning "moral turpitude" before enigma?

If that's the case it seems like waiting a little while and letting the pardon
refusal fade from recent memory would be a more effective advocacy tactic.

~~~
aplusbi
Yes absolutely. If he made no discoveries at all we wouldn't even know who he
was.

Do you honestly believe that using this discussion as a starting point for a
general discussion on having scientists on money is insensitive?

