back to article Petition for Alan Turing on £10 note breaks 20,000 signatures

A petition to get British wartime crypto-boffin Alan Turing on the next ten-pound note has broken 20,000 signatures on the government's e-petition site. At least 23,157 people have signed the pledge that praises his contribution to computer science, the nation and the world, and calls for Turing to replace Charles Darwin when …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Should only be deceased persons on the note and people of huge historic importance. Which rules out rubbish footballers like Beckham (why him and not one of the 1966 team members?).

    1. Christoph

      Yes, it would be a really bad idea to put living or recently deceased people on notes. You never know what might turn up about them. Can you imagine the problems if we had a Jimmy Savile bank note?

      1. Richard 26

        Funny you should say that:

        "Some of those who have been nominated, but have yet to make the grade, are David Beckham, Sir Jimmy Savile, Princess Diana and Sir Terry Wogan."

        http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15522387

  2. Richard 81

    "Richard Branson"

    Who suggested him?!?

    1. Platelet

      Re: "Richard Branson"

      Indeed, and how do we register the "public offence" this inclusion causes?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Richard Branson"

      Given his propensity for self-publicity, I'm tempted to say he suggested himself...

    3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: "Richard Branson"

      >Who suggested him?!

      Who do you think ?

  3. billium
    Happy

    Thanks for the notice.

    Celebrities on bank notes may devalue them.

    1. Deebster
      Joke

      The bank note or the celebrity?

  4. Cliff

    A solution

    So you have to be dead to appear on a banknote and Richard Branson has been nominated.

    Two birds, one stone.

  5. Phil W
    FAIL

    They'll probably refuse to put Turing on there....

    ...on the grounds of him being a convicted criminal. That ought to cause a nice little political correctness ruckus.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Convicted criminals

      Perhaps, though other countries have had banknotes with Jesus on them ...

      1. TeeCee Gold badge
        Coat

        Re: Convicted criminals

        Yup, that's a nailed-on criminal alright.

    2. Phil W

      Re: They'll probably refuse to put Turing on there....

      Not entirely sure what the downvotes are for?

      I never suggested I considered him a criminal, or that I thought he shouldn't be on the notes.

      But if you think our bureaucratic government wouldn't refuse to put him on the notes for this reason then you're apparently unfamiliar with our government.

    3. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: They'll probably refuse to put Turing on there....

      Well he did violate the computer misuse act and pirated a lot of German intellectual property

      1. Phil W

        Re: They'll probably refuse to put Turing on there....

        Turing has a criminal record due to being convicted of being a homosexual, which at the time was illegal in the UK. (Not saying I think this should be a crime, simply that at the time it was and he has convicted).

        There has previously been a campaign to have this conviction posthumously pardoned, which failed on the grounds that the courts won't overturn a genuine conviction for a crime simply because it is not a crime anymore. ( I do agree with this, since it's the equivalent of changing a speed limit from 30 to 40 and then overturning the convictions of those caught doing speeds >30 but <40 on that road previously).

        Not saying I agree with it, but his criminal record would likely be used as a reason not to put him on bank notes.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Petition for Turing signed

    That is all

  7. Gimp0r

    Whilst I respect Turing..

    I think i would rather see Sir Tim Berners-Lee on a bank not than most of the idiots on that list.

  8. Jim 59

    Terry Wogan - love it. He would be on Irish punts though, not sterling.

    What about Montgomery ? 60th anniversary of El Alamein and all that. While there are still living survivors.

    Have we done Brunnel yet ?

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      Headmaster

      "What about Montgomery ?"

      What about Montgomery? My grandfather was in Africa during World War II where he served in the First Army, and it always annoyed him that people think Montgomery and the 8th Army were the only ones there. If you want to put anyone on a bank note for the Tunisian Campaign make it General Sir Harold Alexander, who commanded it.

      1. Richard 81

        Re: "What about Montgomery ?"

        I'd vote for William Slim.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "What about Montgomery ?"

          If we're doing great WWII commanders, my vote would be for Sir Keith Park, not least as he is notable as much for his humility as his brilliance.

          1. Richard Gadsden
            Go

            Re: "What about Montgomery ?"

            Park is a great idea. Also William Slim, or Andrew Cunningham. That's one from each service too.

      2. Jim 59

        Re: "What about Montgomery ?"

        If Alexander and his army have lacked recognition, all the more reason to put him on the money. Harold Alexander it is.

    2. Alex C

      +1 for Brunel

      Apparently he was on the £2 coin for a bit

    3. Colin Miller

      > Terry Wogan - love it. He would be on Irish punts though, not sterling.

      Err. There haven't been punts for over 12 years; their euro coins all have the Irish harp on them.

  9. Faye B

    Flowers

    I think it would be nicer to have Tommy Flowers on the notes, as compensation for not getting the recognition he deserved in designing the first (semi)programmable computer. Or does being a cockney rather than a public schoolboy rule him out for such an honour.

    1. pompurin

      Re: Flowers

      The BBC showed an excellent documentary on Bletchley Park last night and it was sad to hear about the Tommy Flowers story. His son showed an IT certificate of him passing a dBASE,WordPerfect and Excel course in the early 1990s when he was in his 80s, something he had initially invented 50 years before. These people really deserve our utmost respect.

  10. takuhii

    Isn't shakespeare already on a bank note??

    1. Fuzz

      Re: Shakespeare

      Yes, as are all the other highlighted people on this list. Maybe the highlighting has some significance.

  11. takuhii
    Pint

    I'm all for Matt Smith on a tenner to be honest...

  12. Mike 125

    Terry...

    ...W.T.F Wogan?? Give me a f'ing break. Morons. Turing should be there, without question. No one else on that list should make an I.O.U., let alone a tenner. Oh wait...

    Anyway, the man now has my vote.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Decent people who have done something useful

    That would include (emphatically) Turing, Flowers, and Berners-Lee. They would be fit company for Adam Smith (a far nicer and more decent man than his image nowadays, thanks to selective quotation).

    Sportsfolk and spivs (no matter how rich) should be ruled out on principle.

  14. Purlieu
    Joke

    Surely

    Turing should be on the back of the 11 bob note

    <---- JOKE

    1. Ant Evans

      Re: Surely

      It should be an £8, £16 or £32 note. All this base 10 kind of misses the point.

      I have chosen to forego my icon in memory of Alan Turing.

      1. Nigel 11

        Re: Surely

        Early computers tended to work in decimal (or rather, BCD). It was often more efficient o make hardware that crunched pseudo-decimal than to convert long strings of 32 or more bits into decimal digits after the computations were done.

  15. Lars Silver badge
    Happy

    James Bond

  16. mark1978

    Someone seems to have forgotten Wogan isn't British.

    As a general rule there should be at least 50 years between the death of a person and them appearing on a note.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That list has quite a sharp fall off in quality at the end, but it's excellent to see Tommy Flowers on there.

    I would also approve of having Byron on a note, but only if he was drunk and making obscene gestures. It's what he would have wanted....

  18. Roby

    I didn't realise there were different series. I was gonna say why on earth would you want to replace Darwin. As much as I love Turing and think it was terrible how he was treated, I love having Darwin on the £10 note. But if the £10 note is getting a routine redesign then yes to Turing! That would be awesome.

    This kind of thing should not be decided by the public. The only thing most of the public know about is celebrities, as illustrated by the list:

    "David Beckham, Richard Branson, Princess Diana, Terry Pratchett, Jonny Wilkinson, John Cleese and Terry Wogan"

    It should be an historical figure of great significance, and something decided not by a public popularity contest in which morons (aka most of the population) can vote.

  19. Colin Millar
    Coat

    But shirley

    Smallest note currently is £101? There is a £10 pound coin that he could appear on though.

  20. Wemb
    Alert

    Hooke?

    Someone suggested Robert Hooke - admirable sentiment - but they're going to have trouble doing it since Newton has his only portrait destroyed. Could put a picture of a slinky on the back of the tenner, I suppose...

  21. lglethal Silver badge
    FAIL

    When i read the headline...

    ... I assumed this was a belated April Fools Day joke! Apparently not.

    My respect for the UK population continues to plummet...

  22. En_croute
    Pint

    Wishful thinking

    As you have to be dead, or the Monarch to be on a note, surely the addition of David Beckham & Richard Branson is just wishfull thinking?

  23. Kevin Reilly
    Mushroom

    Don't forget Bill Tutte

    Tutte was the bloke at Bletchley who cracked the Lorenz cypher after bring rejected by Turing for the Enigma team. then Tommy Flowers built the computer to automate it. This crack was more valuable than Enigma even after the war. As the USSR plundered it from the Nazis unaware that GCHQ monitored it right through the cold war.

    Also cracking Enigma had a lot to do with the Poles who smuggled a machine out and the sub hunters who captured a naval machine. Enigma cracking was far was far from the one gay achievement some would have you all believe.

    1. Terry Barnes
      Stop

      Re: Don't forget Bill Tutte

      Indeed it was an effort by many people - but then you're discounting Turing's wider contributions to computer science - a subject that he pretty much founded - Turing's thesis and the universal Turing machine are essential foundations for everything that has come after.

      Why do you belittle the breaking of Enigma as a "gay achievement"? His sexuality didn't define his brilliant mind, it's only mentioned in conjunction with his life and work because of the appalling treatment he suffered at the hands of our government and society.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    How about

    Winston Churchill--though we could put him on a Dollar-denominated bill since he was made an honorary citizen of the U.S.

    George III--maybe also on a Dollar-denominated bill in honor of his immense contribution to American independence

    Isabard K. Brunel

    Isaac Newton

    Thomas Bacon

    Charles Dickens (but I think he might already be on a note)

    John Lennon

    Christopher Marlowe

    Geoffrey Chaucer

    Thomas Faraday

    Guy Ritchie (deserves something for having been married to Madonna)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: How about

      Isaac Newton (done - £1 note)

      Thomas Faraday? who is he. MICHAEL Faraday (done £20 note)

      Dickens (done as you said)

      Perhaps we should just go down the list of "100 greatest britons" and exclude old monarchs (as you don't want 2 monarchs on a note really).

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_Britons

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Wait!!! I have it!!

    Lord Nelson on special note for use in paying HR Customs inscribed.......

    "England expects every man to pay his duty!!"

    Mine is the oilskin hanging on the hook over there....

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    "Petition for Alan Turing on £10 note breaks 20,000 signatures"

    How the hell did they fit 20,000 signatures on a £10 note?

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Facepalm

    Beckham???

    Please tell me someone is having a giraffe....

    This is nearly as bad as that pointless twat Will.I.Am having his drivel broadcast across the cosmos...

    Beckham....

    BECKHAM......

    Sorry i'm just flabberghasted he's even being considered....

  28. adam payne

    Beckham are they being serious?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Unfortunately yes

      ...there are even some people who think he should be on the FRONT of the note (as in him specifically as head of state - not just in some anti-royal generic way).

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My list

    Richard Dawkins (just to piss most of the US off and to accompany Charles Darwin)

    The Archbishop of Canterbury (to balance Richard Dawkins)

    The Pope (to balance the CoE vs Catholic thing)

    God (to make a set with the Pope)

    The prophet Muhammed 'peace be upon him' (actually just a blank space where his image would be as we don't want to offend anybody)

    Satan (to balance the God thing)

    Pam Ayres

  30. Alan Brown Silver badge

    Only one living person...

    ...who was not a head of state, has appeared on any banknote worldwide.

    and I bet only a few people can name him.

    1. Phil E Succour
      Meh

      Re: Only one living person...

      Well I think Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was on a Scottish bank note during her lifetime, and whilst she was married to one head of state and mother of another she wasn't actually one herself. Then there was Edmund Hillary on a Kiwi note. And I seem to remember some proposal to put Jack Nicklaus on Scottish note in recognition of his prowess on the links, but I don't know if it ever happend.

      So your count of one might be off.

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