UK’s new £50 note celebrates Alan Turing
The Bank of England has revealed the design for the UK’s new £50 note featuring computer scientist and codebreaker Alan Turing.
In recognition of his groundbreaking work in mathematics and computer science as well as his role in cracking the Enigma code used by Germany in World War II, Turing was selected to appear on the note in July 2019.
The polymer note, which will enter into circulation from June 23 this year, incorporates a number of designs linked to Turing’s life and legacy. These include technical drawings for the bombe, a decryption device used during WWII; a string of ticker tape with Turing’s birthday rendered in binary (23 June 1912); a green and gold security foil resembling a microchip; and a table and mathematical formulae are taken from one of Turing’s most famous papers.
In addition to honoring his scientific achievements, Turing was also selected to appear on the banknote in recognition of his persecution by the UK government for homosexuality. Turing, who was openly gay among friends, was arrested in 1952 and charged with “gross indecency” for homosexual acts, which were illegal in England and Wales until 1967. Despite changes to the law, prosecution of same-sex acts continued in the UK for decades afterward.
Turing did not deny the charges and was convicted and sentenced to chemical castration. He died two years later, at the age of 41, after eating an apple laced with cyanide. Historians still disagree over whether this was suicide or a case of accidental poisoning.
“It is almost impossible to put into words the difference that Alan Turing made to society, but perhaps the most poignant example is that his work is estimated to have shortened the war by four years and saved 21 million lives,” said former MP John Leech in 2018. “Placing Turing on the £50 note would at least go some way to acknowledging his unprecedented contribution to society and science. But more importantly, it will serve as a stark and frankly painful reminder of what we lost in Turing and what we will lose again if we ever allow that kind of hateful ideology to win.”
