Fight Begins To Secure Turing Papers For Bletchley Park Museum 66
Blacklaw writes "Auction house Christie's is planning to sell offprints of Alan Turing's early work for an estimated £500,000 — and the fight has begun to raise the money so UK codebreaking museum and charity Bletchley Park can house the documents in the building where Turing performed his war-winning work and birthed the concept of a modern 'universal computer.' If the money isn't raised, the papers could disappear into a private archive, never to be seen again."
The lesson of politics is that... (Score:1, Insightful)
Save yoyr money (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Love to play Devil's Advocate... (Score:3, Insightful)
Plus I'm sure there's pictures and copies of those papers around. I'm all for a bit of fetichism and idolatry, but I'm surprised geeks play at it too.
Re:The lesson of politics is that... (Score:5, Insightful)
appropriation (Score:3, Insightful)
His work was funded by the people, built on the knowledge of the people, is part of the heritage of the people and its content belongs to the people. At worst, the "owner" should be required to maintain its condition and make it publicly available, and to provide digital copies which enter the public domain. Just like any item of antiquity or listed building.
Re:Love to play Devil's Advocate... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The lesson of politics is that... (Score:4, Insightful)
So they didn't hold the weapon, but they destroyed his life until he ended it. Yeah, I'd say they killed him...
Onoes! (Score:3, Insightful)
If the money isn't raised, the papers could disappear into a private archive, never to be seen again."
OR they could be bought by a private collector who could just as easily "indefinitely loan" them to Bletchley Park. Just as many private art collectors have pieces on loan to museums.
Re:The lesson of politics is that... (Score:2, Insightful)
but rather as a side effect of bigotry and/or indifference.
In other words, gross negligence.
They committed what we would call today a hate crime.
If you have a duty of care, commit gross negligence, and a person dies, you would be heading to jail with charges of manslaughter.
The governments' killing of the man, by causing his own suicide, is no different.
They knew or should have known, the ramifications of horome therapy, before forcing anyone into it.
Even when punishing criminals, the government has a duty to not cause them to die or to permanently cause them to want to die.
Who cares? (Score:2, Insightful)
What difference does it make what happens to his "original" papers? They have been published and are accessible to all.
With Turing, of all people, one should understand that it is the information contained in those papers that matters--which is public--not the physical artifact.
Re:The lesson of politics is that... (Score:5, Insightful)
What must be more sad (if it's a question of volume) is that uncounted numbers of people like Turing were then, before, and are treated this way today, but there is no sympathy or support or help for them because they are just people and not geniuses. We don't know who most of them are because, like Turing, they hide the truth from most people in their lives.
They may not be subject to hormone therapy (though some were) but are ostracized, ridiculed, excluded, persecuted, killed. Even here on Slashdot surrounded by supposedly smart people.
We can do better.
Re:Love to play Devil's Advocate... (Score:3, Insightful)
Just donate to Bletchley if you're interested, they're the experts at handling this kind of material and making it available for the public, better to let them do it and give them your money.