England 4: Manchester & Alan Turing

One of our days in Manchester, I briefly visited the new Alan Turing Building at the University of Manchester, as well as the memorial to Alan Turing in Sackville Gardens.


Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician, cryptologist, and computer scientist in the first half of the 20th century. When he was discovered to be gay, he was arrested and convicted; lost his security clearance, his livelihood, and much of his participation in the world of mathematics; and was forced to undergo hormone treatments. Turing eventually committed suicide.

The statue in Sackville Gardens was dedicated in 2001. Not one major computer company contributed towards this memorial to the father of the computer and computer science.

Yet, he is honored in many other ways.

Still, his story gives me the chills...