Readers discuss the scientists they would like to see on a new £50 note after the Bank of England asked for nominations

‘The least they could do in terms of recognition’

Alan Turing seems a popular choice here and rightly so. He’s the father of AI, which is very on trend technologically right now. He was also treated abominably by the British state so it would be the least they could do in terms of recognition. robertc808

‘It’s got to be a woman’

In view of the importance of computing to all aspects of life, Ada Lovelace would be a fine choice. Of course, being a geologist, I’d love to see Mary Anning celebrated too. Or Rosalind Franklin as she lost out during her all to brief life. Or Dorothy Hodgkin, as she’s so relatively unknown to the general public. I’m seeing a theme here ... it’s got to be a woman! Dr Speedy

‘He became a British citizen in 1939…’

Why we want to build Charles Babbage's Victorian computer | John Graham-Cumming Read more

Why not Hans Krebs – a brilliant biochemist who, most famously, elucidated what is generally these days called the TCA cycle, but is still often referred to as the Krebs cycle? Wikipedia tells me that he became a British citizen in 1939, so I think he’d be a great choice. fishworld

‘Laid the path for Einstein’s work on relativity’

Two Thomsons for me. Lord Kelvin (William Thomson) founded modern understanding of thermodynamics, introduced the concept of kinetic energy and seeded questions which clearly laid the path for Einstein’s work on relativity. JJ Thomson discovered the electron. I’m not sure I need to embellish beyond that monumental achievement, quite frankly. But, in addition, he was a Mancunian, which I would think this newspaper would approve of. Baggy

‘Together they could be considered the founders of computing’

Why limit it to one person? Boulton and Watt both made the cut for the current £50, so let’s pick another pair. Lovelace and Charles Babbage didn’t work together, but together they could be considered the founders of computing. spaceymcspaceface

‘The first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest British doctor Elizabeth Garret Anderson (1836 - 1917). Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Can we have Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon (openly as oppose to disguised as a man)? Her qualification resulted in rules being rushed in banning women from obtaining a licence to practice medicine. Rabbid

‘One of the most brilliant and elegant set of equations ever written down’

As a physicist I’d like to see James Clerk Maxwell on there. Despite having struggled with electromagnetic theory I can still recognise one of the most brilliant and elegant set of equations ever written down. They even have their own website. nufubar

‘The first professional female scientist in the UK’

[Though German so ineligible I would like to see] Caroline Herschel, the first woman (with Mary Sommervile) to be elected to the Royal Astronomical society and first female winner of its Gold Medal. She began the NGC for cataloguing deep-sky objects, discovered eight comets and was the first professional female scientist in the UK, for which she received a salary, of £50. matter

‘A scientists’ scientist’

A “scientist’s scientist” would be Paul Dirac. He is less well-known to the general public than many others, but his contributions to physics during the 1920s and 1930s were second to none. The equation that bears his name essentially represents our most fundamental understanding of how elementary particles (and therefore pretty much everything) behaves. oscartheexpat

‘A dinosaur on the note’

[Paleontologist] Mary Anning would be my pick, because then we’d also probably get a dinosaur on the note. Lord Hoot