Alan Turing is regarded as one of the most highly influential scientists of all time. He was a brilliant mathematician during World War II who’s genius helped decode German naval Enigma messages, which were crucial in helping the allies defeat the Nazis. Unfortunately, Turing was never fully recognized during his time for one very tragic reason.
Homosexuality was a crime in the UK during the early 1900s. Since Turing was secretly in a relationship with a man at the time, he was eventually arrested for “gross indecency”. Rather than face jail time, Turing agreed to chemical castration (using drugs to lower a person’s libido) and was barred for doing any more research for the British government. Two years after his arrest, Turing died of cyanide poisoning. His death was ruled as a suicide, but this has been disputed.
Turing’s arrest and death served as the inspiration for Will Eaves’ novel Murmur. Written as a series of dreams and letters, it tells the story of a fictional mathematician who is arrested for his sexuality and subjected to hormonal injections and later died of an apparent suicide. Sound familiar?
The novel received rave reviews from critics, and now is being recognized with the Wellcome Book Prize. Started in 2009 by biomedical research facility Wellcome Trust, this award recognizes books that “celebrate the topics of health and medicine”. Eaves received a £30,000 prize for his book.
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