I Wish I Had Paid Attention in Math Class

The last year has proven to be quite a year for ‘A Man From the Future’, Alan Turing. On Christmas Eve 2013, Queen Elizabeth II  pardoned Mr. Turing for his 1952 crime of indecency resulting from his homosexuality. Only a year earlier, the British government had revealed the contributions Turing had made to the Allies efforts in winning World War II. His dedication to breaking the ‘Enigma’ code resulted in saving more than 14 million lives and the Allies winning the war in Europe. In June 2014, the Pet Shop Boys performed their orchestrated/spoken-word piece with the BBC Orchestra, “A Man From the Future”. The arrangement honors Turing through an 8-section composition largely based on the Andrew Hodges book Alan Turing: The Enigma. For an excellent description of the piece, check out this commentary.*

Can you think what I feel?

Can you feel what I think?

Late in the year, ‘The Imitation Game’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch was released that chronicled three parts of Turings life – childhood and his first romantic interest, Christopher Morcom; his time working at Bletchley Park and decrypting Enigma; and the investigation of his homosexuality. An amazing film that further identifies Turing as the father of the modern computer. Turing and his challenges have my curiousity peaked. I wish when I was younger that I had been more interested in math. In the film, it was stated that statistics were used after they decifered the code to determine which battles the Allies would engage in as well as how they would use the information so that the Nazis would not notice their code had been broken.

This is what I say today, in 2015, to my younger self…I wish I had paid more attention in math class. In lieu of going back to algebra, I think I will read the book, Alan Turing: The Enigma. 

*If you would like to hear the full Pet Shop Boys and BBC Orchestra’s performance of ‘A Man From the Future’, you can download an mp3 of the hour-long show.