Alan Turing pardoned
Posted:
Wed Dec 25, 2013 2:28 amby Webb
Have you ever heard of the AI Turing test? This is the guy that created the theory.
Royal pardon for codebreaker Alan TuringComputer pioneer and codebreaker Alan Turing has been given a posthumous royal pardon.
It addresses his 1952 conviction for homosexuality for which he was punished by being chemically castrated.
The conviction meant he lost his security clearance and had to stop the code-cracking work that had proved vital to the Allies in World War Two.
The pardon was granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy after a request by Justice Minister Chris Grayling.
"Dr Alan Turing was an exceptional man with a brilliant mind," said Mr Grayling.
He said the research Turing carried out during the war at Bletchley Park undoubtedly shortened the conflict and saved thousands of lives.
Turing's work helped accelerate Allied efforts to read German Naval messages enciphered with the Enigma machine. He also contributed some more fundamental work on codebreaking that was only released to public scrutiny in April 2012.
"His later life was overshadowed by his conviction for homosexual activity, a sentence we would now consider unjust and discriminatory and which has now been repealed," said Mr Grayling.
"Turing deserves to be remembered and recognised for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science. A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man."
The pardon comes into effect on 24 December.
Turing died in June 1954 from cyanide poisoning and an inquest decided that he had committed suicide. However, biographers, friends and other students of his life dispute the finding and suggest his death was an accident ...
Re: Alan Turing pardoned
Posted:
Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:34 pmby C
Mixed feelings. Nothing wrong with the pardon, but, as with the apologies for everything the Brits, the Empire and our forebears have done over the past million years, I can't help thinking there are issues far closer to home that matter now.
You don't see the Italians apologising to the world for feeding the Christians to the lions, or the French for capitulating every time something goes bang...
Re: Alan Turing pardoned
Posted:
Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:48 pmby expat
C wrote:Mixed feelings. Nothing wrong with the pardon, but, as with the apologies for everything the Brits, the Empire and our forebears have done over the past million years, I can't help thinking there are issues far closer to home that matter now.
You don't see the Italians apologising to the world for feeding the Christians to the lions, or the French for capitulating every time something goes bang...
Plus 1
We seem to be rewriting history quite often recently, mainly to keep the PC brigade and tree huggers happy.
Matt
Re: Alan Turing pardoned
Posted:
Fri Dec 27, 2013 4:29 amby Hagar
expat wrote:C wrote:Mixed feelings. Nothing wrong with the pardon, but, as with the apologies for everything the Brits, the Empire and our forebears have done over the past million years, I can't help thinking there are issues far closer to home that matter now.
You don't see the Italians apologising to the world for feeding the Christians to the lions, or the French for capitulating every time something goes bang...
Plus 1
We seem to be rewriting history quite often recently, mainly to keep the PC brigade and tree huggers happy.
Matt
I agree. What happened to Turing was awful & very sad but circumstances were different at the time. As a practising homosexual he would have been a tremendous security risk & open to blackmail by foreign governments. It would have been impossible to allow him to continue in his work. If you pardon him there must be hundreds if not thousands that were in the same position.