New UK 50 Pound Won't Feature Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, Choosing Alan Turing Instead
Bank Of England announced it was redesigning the 50 UK Pound currency note replacing it with a prominent name from the world of science. Alan Turing a renowned mathematician and World War II code breaker was chosen as the new face of UK 50 Pound note. Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose -- one of the pioneers of modern day Wi-Fi and wireless communications -- didnt make the cut.
In November of 2018, the Bank Of England had announced it was redesigning the 50 UK Pound currency note, replacing it with a prominent name from the world of science.
That person is Alan Turing, a renowned mathematician and World War II code breaker. And it couldn't have been a better choice!
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Of course, Alan Turing's selection as the new face of UK 50 Pound note means Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose -- one of the pioneers of modern day Wi-Fi and wireless communications -- didn't make the cut, much to the dismay of Indian followers of the Bank Of England contest which had over 1 lakh prominent scientific personalities in contention.
In the final honor list of contenders, only India's Srinivasa Ramanujan -- the genius young mathematician -- found a mention, alongside such stalwarts as Stephen Hawking, Ada Lovelace, and Charles Babbage as important considerations from the fields of maths, science and technology.
But the Bank Of England decided to go ahead with Alan Turing, and there can be no complaints of their choice. Here's why Alan Turing is more than a deserving face of the new UK 50 Pound note.
Bank of England concept 50 pound note
Alan Turing: A rare genius
Not only was Alan Turing a genius mathematician, who worked as a code breaker during World War II by designing a method to decipher German military messages encoded by the Enigma Machine, but he also made pioneering contributions in the world of technology.
Alan Turing designed the famous "Turing Test" which is still used to test the intelligence of a machine to the extent where it can actually fool a human into believing it's not a machine. Through this, Alan Turing made unparalleled contributions in the unknown field of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Benedict Cumberbatch played Alan Turing on screen
But more than all of this, Alan Turing's recognition as the new face of UK 50 Pound note is hailed as a huge moment in the LGBTQIA community. Turing was a gay man at a time in Britain when being homosexual was a crime punishable by death, and he's believed to have committed suicide at the age of 41 partly due to reasons related to his gay orientation.
The new UK 50 Pound Alan Turing note is expected to get into circulation by 2021, and will be made from a plastic polymer just like the current UK 50 Pound note.
