Had he not poisoned himself at the age of 41, Alan Turing might be 100 years old tomorrow. The grim circumstances of his death — persecuted and prosecuted for homosexuality, chemically castrated and probably hounded to suicide — have become rather better known than the achievements of his short life as a pioneer of computer science and the leading light among the war-winning codebreakers of Bletchley Park.

Turing has had a posthumous prime ministerial apology for the foul way in which he was treated, and a commemorative postage stamp. He may yet be granted a formal pardon for his “crime”. A Hollywood biopic may star Leonardo di Caprio as the “tortured gay mathematician”.

Turing was destroyed by prejudice, but before he is adopted simply as