Anyone wishing to add their support please do so, I haveHi All
I've been campaigning for a long time for an official pardon for
Turing who, when facing prosecution in the UK for being homosexual,
committed suicide rather than face chemical castration. My father was
the headmaster of Wavendon School in the grounds of Bletchley Park
where Turing worked to crack the German Enigma code (among others), so
I've always had an interest in the man and his work. I know that this
is a little 'off list' but if it wasn't for Turing we'd all still be
using mechanical calculators and signing Deutschland über alles every
morning...
Alan Turing was one of our country's national heros hastening the end
of the Second World War and, along with Von Neumann, making some of
greatest contributions to the developing what is now considered a
computer.
A petition on the same site to save Bletchley Park elicited a direct
response from the Prime Minister, it would be great if all of those
interested in this great man and the shameful way he was treated could
take the time to sign this petition.
For those interested in cryptoanalysis and the part it played in
defeating the Nazis in the Second World War, there is an exhibition
this coming weekend at Bletchley Park celebrating the 70th anniversary
of Turing's arrival:
http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/calenda ... cID=567861
If you're interested in Turing there have been several books written
about him, but one of the best is David Leavitt's "The Man Who Knew
Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer" (ISBN
978-0393052367)
The petition for an official pardon for Turing can be found at:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/turing/
James
Aitch
