Comments on: A Wrong Righted

By: boca raton plumber

boca raton plumber — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:33:03 +0000

Well, he was elected by the voters of Kircaldy and Cowdenbeath. In a parliamentary system, I suppose it’s always wrong to say that the prime minister was elected by anyone other than his own constituency, but the personalities of the parties’ leaders do seem to play more of a role than they did even 15 or 20 years ago.

By: Bill Gasarch

Bill Gasarch — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:43:46 +0000

Alan Turing BOTH helped his country win WW II and was a brilliant
mathematician. I would support extending the apology to anyone
who was persecuted that had just ONE of those attributes.
Demanding both seems too selective.

More seriously, apologizing to ONE person for a wrong inflicted
on many seems odd. I am not quite objection— the real question
is, what is the apology supposed to accomplish and is bestowing it
on ONE famous person more effective towards that goal then a blanket
apology. I don’t know.

Apologies of this sort usually come after EVERYONE involved in the
original offense is dead.

By: Leo Reyzin

Leo Reyzin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:41:40 +0000

It’s remarkable that the apology text does not mention any connection between Turing and computer science. Though “computer scientists” are mentioned in the Prime Minister’s statement (as some of people who campaigned for the apology), it seems that our field, as a scientific discipline, is not noticed by the broader public.

By: Rena

Rena — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:29:16 +0000

Likewise, Amen. I’m not going to lie, the apology text makes me a little misty-eyed.