Apology for Turing's Treatment Stirs the Twittersphere

In life, Alan Turing helped win World War II and sowed the seeds for the modern computer industry. In death, the persecuted British mathematician may provide some lessons about how public opinion reverberates in cyberspace. Responding to a petition posted on the Web site for Number 10 Downing Street, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown late Thursday apologized for what he characterized as the “appalling” treatment of Turing 55 years earlier by British officials.