Alan Mathison Turing

23 June 1912 - 7 June 1954

Sackville Gardens Memorial

The Alan Turing statue was unveiled on 23rd June 2001. Turing has been depicted by sculptor Glyn Hughes as a scruffily dressed, ordinary man, holding an apple. The apple represents Newton, the tree of knowledge and forbidden love as well as being a reminder of Turing’s death. Hughes buried his old Amstrad computer under the plinth as a tribute to “the Godfather of all modern computers”. The making and installation of the statue was funded and supported by: Manchester City Council, the British Society of the History of Mathematicians, the Lesbian and Gay Foundation, the Big Lottery Fund, BBC Breathing Places, fundraising events in the Gay Village, and public donations. It is cared for by the Friends of Sackville Gardens working with Manchester City Council and by Manchester Pride volunteers.

The Father of Modern Computer Science

Turing studied at King’s College, Cambridge where he became a Fellow in 1935 and developed the concept known as the Turing machine, considered the basis for the modern theory of computation. The paper ‘On Computable Numbers’ describes the theory. It was published in 1936, whilst he studied for a PhD at Princeton University.

Cracking the Enigma Code

During the Second World War, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, the Government Code and Cypher School Headquarters where his  invention of the ‘Bombe’ was credited with helping the Allied Forces win the war. The German Enigma Machine generated a constantly changing code to send encrypted messages to the German Military. ‘Bombe’ was able to decode these messages rapidly, keeping the Allied Forces one step ahead of the enemy, possibly shortening the war and saving thousands of lives.

After the war

Following the Second World War, Turing concentrated on the development of a machine that would logically process information. Turing has a well-established connection to Manchester. He moved here in 1949 and went on to develop the first digital computer, ‘Baby’, at The University of Manchester. He became part of the team responsible for most of the important breakthroughs in the development of the computer. He also carried out work on the subject of artificial intelligence.

The Final Years

In 1952, Turing disclosed his homosexuality to a detective who was investigating a burglary at his home in Wilmslow. Homosexuality was a criminal offence at this time and Turing was arrested. Additionally, homosexuals were considered to be “open to bribes” and as a result, Turing failed his security clearance at GCHQ, the post-war successor to Bletchley Park

On 7th June 1954, Turing was found dead in his bedroom. A post-mortem examination established that the cause of death was cyanide poisoning, although there is much mystery surrounding his tragic death.

Legacy

Whilst his work may not have been appreciated in his lifetime, it continues to impact people and society today. In September 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued Turing an unequivocal apology on behalf of the British Government:

“While Mr. Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can’t put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I, and we all, are for what happened to him. So, on behalf of the British Government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan’s work, I am very proud to say: we’re sorry, you deserved so much better.”

In 2013, he received a Royal Pardon and in 2019, it was announced that Alan Turing would be commemorated on the Bank of England £50 note in circulation from 2021.