Queen Elizabeth pardons Alan Turing, the genius behind the Bombe machine
Queen Elizabeth posthumously pardoned Dr. Alan Turing, a British mathematician and code-breaker during world war II. This comes 60 years after his conviction of homosexual activity and suicide by eating an apple with cyanide.
Dr. Turing was the genius behind the code breaking machine — Bombe. The machine was developed to decipher German encrypted messages during the war. And helped defeat the Nazis and brought the war to an end, saving countless lives.
British Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said, “Dr. Turing deserves to be remembered and recognized for his fantastic contribution to the war effort and his legacy to science.” He added, “A pardon from the Queen is a fitting tribute to an exceptional man.”
Alan Turing legacy has been considered a vital contribution to modern science. In today’s computing machines — from computers to cell phones and high tech gadgets — all have the foot prints of “Turing Machine”, the first modern computer.
“A Turing machine is a hypothetical device that manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. Despite its simplicity, a Turing machine can be adapted to simulate the logic of any computer algorithm, and is particularly useful in explaining the functions of a CPU inside a computer.” ~ Wikipedia
Supporters of Turing have long called for the government to recognize his great achievement and the unjust conviction. In 2009 an online petition has garnered tens of thousand of signatures.
Finally, on Monday the long overdue Royal Pardon has descended from the high throne.
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