CHARLES PRITCHARD
Staff Writer
Do you recognize any of these names: Alan Turing, Florence Nightingale, or James Pollack? If you do, then you might know your history quite well.
If not, here’s a lesson on these figures.
Alan Turing was a British mathematician and cryptanalyst who worked with the Allies during World War II. According to Winston Churchill,“Turing made the single biggest contribution to Allied victory in the war against Nazi Germany.”
Florence Nightingale organized a group of volunteer nurses during the Crimean War and established the first official school for training nurses, The Nightingale School for Nurses, that set the bar high for the level of care, compassion and treatment in subsequent schools.
James Pollack was a NASA astrophysicist who explored the weather on Mars. He created new computer simulations of the planet’s climate; his models on how gas giants are formed are considered in academia as the standard model.
These three people achieved great things independently, but they also had one thing in common: all of these people were members of the queer community.
With a surge of gay pride movements in the United States and overseas, along with more public acceptance of the queer community as a whole, certain figures in history who have often been overlooked are now getting their time in the limelight.
Turing especially is garnering a lot of attention, with the reveal of the new movie, “The Imitation Game,” which is slated for release on Nov. 21 of this year. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, best known for his role as Sherlock Holmes in “Sherlock,” as Alan Turing and is being directed by Norwegian Morten Tyldum.
Cumberbatch plays codebreaker and mathematician Alan Turing during the height of World War II; he attempts to crack the Enigma Machine, a period German-built-device that scrambled messages and allowed only those with the key to unscramble them.
In an article on Alan Turing’s life, the BBC made sure to point out how both British and French cryptanalysts were able to crack the Enigma until Turing and his “bombe,” the device that broke the Enigma.
But, during the time in which the movie is set, identifying as gay was considered a punishable crime in the U.K. History, therefore, recreates itself on screen when Alan Turing manages to crack the code and intercept important intelligence for the war effort, only to be arrested and prosecuted for “gross indecency” under British law. Turing was guilty of having sexual relations with another man — he had his career and life destroyed, before ending it all with suicide.
“The Imitation Game” has received positive reception in the U.K. and for early screenings in the U.S., with Manohla Dargis of The New York Times calling it “delicately nuanced, prickly and tragic.”
But how many people in the United States know just who Alan Turing was?
Of fifteen Fredonia students who were asked about the mathematician, none of them had ever heard of him.
On the other hand, one, Tai Parry, resident of Wales, commented on his upbringing in the U.K. and just what was taught in the curriculum.
“Yeah, everyone here knows at least something about Alan Turing. Same goes for Florence Nightingale. We learn that really early on,” Parry said.
Along with Nightingale and Pollock, Turing has not received the attention that should be afforded to these people and their roles in history.
With the release of “The Imitation Game” on Nov. 21, those who did not know whom Turing was now have the chance to learn a bit more about what he did and why he’s important.
And with each person who learns about Turing, Nightingale and Pollack’s contributions, they also learn about how it shouldn’t matter whom you’re attracted to or whom you love — your actions should speak for your character.