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Put Alan Turing on the next £10 note
- sbuk 14y agoIt's nice to see Tommy Flowers name on the list. It's a shame that his contribution always seems to be overlooked.
- mibbitier 14y agoWith all due respect I think there's quite a few names on the list that should be way ahead in the queue.
- martinwnet 14y agoWho in your opinion should be ahead? I see a few names on that list that shouldn't even be in the queue in my opinion. David Beckham, Jonny Wilkinson, Robbie Williams, Michael Vaughan, Terry Wogan, Princess Diana...
- maxer 14y agoit would be quite ironic to put george orwell on a currency note
- sbuk 14y agoEmmeline Pankhurst.
- eigenvector 14y agoMichael Faraday. Sir Isaac Newton. James Clerk Maxwell. (among many others) There are quite a few folks on there that have undoubtedly placed themselves among the very highest class of contributors to the advancement of humanity.
- SEMW 14y agoIt isn't, and shouldn't, be a matter of just picking your top four people and saying they should be on the notes forever. It changes with each new note series. Newton was on the D-series £1 note. Michael Faraday was on the E-series £20 note (only withdrawn a decade ago) (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_England_note_issues#Denominations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_England_note_issues#Den... ). Why cycle them back in so soon? Give some others a chance.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- endtime 14y agoAre you suggesting Turing is not in the highest class of contributors to the advancement of humanity?
- dkarl 14y agoYou're right about Maxwell. The other two have already appeared on banknotes. (The ones highlighted in grey have already appeared on banknotes, though there's some inconsistency between the highlighting and Wikipedia's list of people on UK currency.) Other scientists, mathematicians, and technical innovators already honored: Kelvin, Darwin, James Watt, Florence Nightingale, George Stephenson, Alexander Graham Bell, and Alexander Fleming.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- rhplus 14y agoFrom the list[1], authors such as Kipling, Potter or Wilde would be crowd pleasers, but a figure like Winston Churchill would likely win if this were decided by popular vote. Saying that, recent Bank of England notes[2] seem to sway much more heavily towards engineers/scientists (Newton, Wren, Stevenson, Faraday, Darwin, Boulton/Watt) and social/economic reformers (Nightingale, Houblon, Fry, Smith) than artists (Elgar, Shakespeare, Dickens) or military leaders (Wellington) [1] http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/about/banknote_names.pdf http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/about/ban... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_pound_sterling#Current_issue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_pound_sterling...
- theorique 14y agoBeckham has greatly advanced the art of football.
- untog 14y agoHm. I somewhat doubt that. However, in credit to the man, he did do a great job with the Olympics.
- theorique 14y agoWell, the point is, he's a distinguished, popular, and famous Briton because of his skills in sport. It's not outside the realm of imagination that he might deserve to be on a bill, though that honour is usually mostly reserved for politicians or royalty.
- philwelch 14y agoNot really. As far as British footballers go, he's never been the equal of Scholes, Giggs, Gerrard, Lampard, or Rooney.
- richliss 14y agoA lot of people would disagree with you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Player_of_the_Year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Player_of_the_Year Second twice for World Player of the Year. The only player out of that list who compares is Scholes; Paul Scholes is the best midfield player of the last 20 years according to Xavi. Neither Rooney or Gerrard are fit to lace Beckham's boots. Rooney has been a shortlived wonderboy, and Gerrard admittedly has been fantastic for Liverpool, but has had one good game for England in the 5-1 victory over Germany. Beckham's vanity as a person shouldn't impact the reality that he was an extremely good footballer. PS. I'm a Villa fan so no Man Utd favouritism.
- philbarr 14y agoIt's the very least we could do after having persecuted him whilst being alive even though he contributed so much. The apology he got years later always seemed a little feeble to me.
- 7952 14y agoAs a memorial to persecuted gay people it would be more poignant to choose someone that people have ever heard of in the style of the unknown solider in the cenotaph. The damage done to Alan Turing was shared by many people who have just as much right to be recognised. The tragedy is not the destruction of genius but the destruction of hope and happiness and life. Put Michael Causer on a bank note.
- thomasthurman 14y ago(A pedant writes:) The unknown soldier is in Westminster Abbey. There's nobody in the Cenotaph, by definition (a cenotaph is an empty tomb).
- bruceboughton 14y agoLooking at the list of names proposed by the public (http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/about/banknote_names.pdf http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/about/ban...) there are some people who are still alive. I hope and expect that the Bank would not consider putting the image of a living person on a note.
- jgrahamc 14y agoApart from HM The Queen?
- bruceboughton 14y agoWell, exactly!
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- deweerdt 14y ago> I hope and expect that the Bank would not consider putting the image of a living person on a note. I dunno, I'd make an exception for John Cleese.
- bruceboughton 14y agoWhy? I'm sure he'd find it a bit embarassing while he was still alive.
- jlgreco 14y agoI would hope he would have fun with it, like try to use bills with himself as photo identification.
- ExpiredLink 14y agoThe Turing hype has gone over the top.
- jgrahamc 14y agoBeware the Alan Turing fetish: http://blog.jgc.org/2011/11/beware-alan-turing-fetish.html http://blog.jgc.org/2011/11/beware-alan-turing-fetish.html
- chrisaycock 14y agoI really like this article. I suppose the corollary would be to claim that Silicon Valley is so great because Don Knuth lives there.
- geoka9 14y agoIn this case no, I don't think so. He was a great scientist, one of the greatest the UK has produced. If his contribution is not worthy of commemorating on a UK banknote, I don't know whose is.
- maxer 14y agoyes.. my first choice on that list would be Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Greatest engineer to come from Great Britain
- jlgreco 14y agoHonoring famous scientists on currency is hardly anything new. I see no problem with this.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jlgreco 14y agoErm, if anything I would say his contribution to the sciences is what is commonly overblown, not what his government did to him. Perhaps what he contributed is being overblown because of what his government did? In any event, I think the reality of the man is enough to warrant honoring on some bill.
- thomasthurman 14y agoThe government's response to the petition says that it needs another 80,000 signatures to be debated by parliament. This is true, but on the other hand it already has been [1]. The role of this petition has always been to show that there is significant interest in having Turing on the tenner, rather than to reach 100,000 signatures as such. But if it does get that far, I won't be complaining. For what it's worth, the Bank of England will "certainly be looking at him". [2] Full disclosure: I was the one who started this petition, back in March. (You might like to note that http://turingonthetenner.com http://turingonthetenner.com redirects to the petition page.) [1] http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120627/halltext/120627h0002.htm http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/c... [2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/apr/13/working-life-head-of-notes-bank-of-england http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/apr/13/working-life-hea...
- mullingitover 14y agoThere are other deserving scientists and thinkers, it's true. But there are no other scientists or thinkers that were as grievously and unapologetically wronged by the UK as Turing was. For all he did to help them win what was literally a fight for their existence, they should've put him on the ten pound note in 1946 amid celebration, instead of vacillating about it in 2012.
- jlgreco 14y agoIt is also not like Alan Turing would be filling the "only slot" of being honored on currency. Other deserving scientists have been / will be on bills.
- mibbitier 14y agoQuite a few other people fought in the war, and quite a lot of people paid with their lives. Not to downplay Turings own contribution, but I wish the hyperbole and the "he was persecuted!" angle could be reined in somehow. Also if anything I think scientists/thinkers have had more than their fair share of slots in banknotes. Perhaps the turn of former PMs, artists, charity founders etc.
- MartinCron 14y agoAre you saying he wasn't persecuted, or that it doesn't matter that he was? Serious question.
- mibbitier 14y agoThroughout history, people sometimes make bad calls. With hindsight, it's easy to see what those were. Clearly some of his treatment was in the 'bad call' camp, but I don't think that was clear at the time. Do you think he'd rather be remembered for his contribution to science, or for being 'persecuted by the government'? Personally, I expect it'd be the former. I think it's useful to put things in perspective though... People fought in the war and DIED.
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- CKKim 14y ago> The Bank of England has been including historic characters on its notes since 1970. The use of the word "characters" here seems comical to me. It makes me think of Dennis the Menace, James Bond, etc.
- Ingaz 14y agoFunny. Imagine banknotes with Jack the Ripper, Batman, Terminator and others
- dj2stein9 14y agoAlan Turing was treated really, really horribly by the government of the UK. I very much doubt he would like to be honored by the exact people who persecuted and destroyed his life.
- evoxed 14y agoThis is a tempting argument, but think for a second whether you actually believe it. Are they the exact people who did that to him? Not at all. You can say all you want about how the government has or hasn't changed, but I think the fact that it's up for discussion is a good sign. It's a different time, different people, and if the people want to honour him I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing (even if he were able to judge). Of course, if you refuse to look past the symbol of government then I guess you're pretty much stuck where you said.
- patrickgzill 14y agoNo.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- Zenst 14y agoI think the £50 would be a fairer choice or even the £20. Alan Turing on the brown £10 does not seem the best choice of note perhaps. The £50 is pinkish and the £20 a purplish colour. I personaly like the £20 the best astheticaly. For reference on UK bank notes: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/current/default.aspx http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/current/defau... It is also worth mentioning that Alan Turing is already approved to be on a UK bank note and is on the waiting list so to speak as seen here: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/about/banknote_names.pdf http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/about/ban... (those names highlighted in dark grey have already been used upon a banknote)
- comicjk 14y agoI would say the 10 is best for Turing regardless of color. It has a 1 and a 0, apt for a computer scientist.
- richliss 14y agoHe absolutely needs to be put on a note. He's one of the most important persons we've ever had grace our country, and with the help of a few other honourable Brits, and some extremely bright Poles helped secure the world we now live in. Consider the fact that he was treated dreadfully after the war, and that the vast majority of our country would probably think Simon Cowell is more significant, we need to celebrate Alan Turing. Hopefully the first steps to another Age of Enlightenment.