[Klug-general] Alan Turing Pardon Petition

[James Blake]

Hi All

I've been campaigning for a long time for an official pardon for  
Turing who, when facing prosecution in the UK for being homosexual,  
committed suicide rather than face chemical castration.  My father was  
the headmaster of Wavendon School in the grounds of Bletchley Park  
where Turing worked to crack the German Enigma code (among others), so  
I've always had an interest in the man and his work.  I know that this  
is a little 'off list' but if it wasn't for Turing we'd all still be  
using mechanical calculators and signing  Deutschland über alles every  
morning...

Alan Turing was one of our country's national heros hastening the end  
of the Second World War and, along with Von Neumann, making some of   
greatest contributions to the developing what is now considered a  
computer.

A petition on the same site to save Bletchley Park elicited a direct  
response from the Prime Minister, it would be great if all of those  
interested in this great man and the shameful way he was treated could  
take the time to sign this petition.

For those interested in cryptoanalysis and the part it played in  
defeating the Nazis in the Second World War, there is an exhibition  
this coming weekend at Bletchley Park celebrating the 70th anniversary  
of Turing's arrival:

http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/calendar/event_detail.rhtm?cat=special&recID=567861

If you're interested in Turing there have been several books written  
about him, but one of the best is David Leavitt's "The Man Who Knew  
Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer" (ISBN  
978-0393052367)

The petition for an official pardon for Turing can be found at:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/turing/


James