Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

Statue of Alan Turing sitting on a bench with an apple in his hand. The apple he holds can symbolise several things: forbidden love (Turing was persecuted for being gay), the tree of knowledge (as pioneer of computer science), Newton's apple and the tragic manner of his death (a half-eaten apple lay beside his bed when his body was discovered - although not tested for cyanide, it was speculated that this was the means by which Turing had consumed a fatal dose).

On the bench are the letters iekyf romsi adxuo kvkzc gubj. It is said that these letters represent 'Founder of Computer Science' as it would appear if encoded by an Enigma machine, but that is not correct, since Enigma can't encrypt a letter as itself and the 14th letters of both is a 'u' (computer and adxuo). In 2010, the sculptor Glyn Williams was asked for the meaning and he answered:

Yes, the code does say something. And it was encoded using the code in use in some particular place on some particular day with a particular type of machine, the place and type having some special significance, like, Alan's birthday or something. The trouble is, I can't remember what, or where or when or why or how.
So, it has become a code waiting to be cracked.
Which is quite nice?

Inscription(s)

Alan Mathison Turing 1912-1954 Father of Computer Science Mathematician, Logician Wartime Codebreaker Victim of Prejudice "Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth but supreme beauty, a beauty cold and austere like that of sculpture." - Bertrand Russell

Signature

Sculptor

• Glyn Hughes, industrial sculptor from Adlington near Westhoughton.

Sources & Information

• Wikipedia, List of public art in Greater Manchester.
• Terry Wyke and Harry Cocks, Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester, Liverpool University Press 2004, p. 123-125 (some parts on Google books).
• Random Hacks, 23 Sept. 2010, What does the code on the Alan Turing Memorial actually say? and 27 Sept. 2010 The Turing Memorial code - the mystery remains.
• Flickr, Nuala 12 July 2010, 'iekyf romsi adxuo kvkzc gubj' (about the meaning of the apple, not the enigma code!).

Tags

Locatie (N 53°28'36" - W 2°14'9") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Your banner here? Click for information.