Alan Turing’s legacy is up for grabs. A collection of his most important papers, including his Ph.D. thesis, is heading to auction. These papers were almost destroyed by a shredder.
The collection includes:
- his signed Ph.D. thesis
- his first published paper, “Equivalence of Left and Right Almost Periodicity” (1935)
- “On Computable Numbers” (1937), which introduced the concept of a universal computer
- “The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis” (1952), his last major published work
These papers were given to Norman Routledge, a friend and fellow mathematician, by Turing’s mother, Ethel. After Routledge’s death in 2013, the papers were stored in his granddaughter’s attic. She almost shredded them, but luckily, she asked her family about them first. An expert valued the papers, and now they’re up for auction.
The “On Computable Numbers” paper and Turing’s signed Ph.D. thesis are expected to fetch between 40,000 to 60,000 pounds each. Turing’s work laid the foundation for computer science. He designed one of the first computers and worked at Bletchley Park, the UK’s codebreaking hub.
Turing’s life was cut short. He was convicted of “gross indecency” for being gay and forced to undergo chemical castration. He died in 1954, possibly by suicide or accident.
The UK government apologized for Turing’s treatment in 2009. In 2017, the “Alan Turing Law” was passed to posthumously pardon people convicted of homosexual acts in England and Wales.