27/11/2018

Mathematician could be featured on new £50 note in the United Kingdom.

The Bank of England, a kind of central bank for the United Kingdom responsible for issuing banknotes, has opened a public poll to choose the "face" for the new £50 note. The public can choose a person who has contributed to the fields of pure or applied science. Until December 14th, it will be possible to nominate individuals from the fields of astronomy, biology, biotechnology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, medical research, physics, technology, and zoology.

Nearly 175,000 names were submitted, of which 114,000 met the criteria for inclusion on the shortlist. According to the bank, the decision will be based on the characters' strengths, not on the number of nominations they receive. The institution will also take into account previous "faces" that have appeared on the £50 note. A committee of four experts in the field of science will join the permanent members of the Advisory Committee for Banknote Characters, which will select the names nominated by the public for the government to make the final decision.

The list includes famous names in British mathematics, such as Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, Bertrand Russell, Charles Babbage, Godfrey H. Hardy, James Joseph Sylvester, and John Wallis, to name just a few. The campaign also encourages children to design their own banknotes and share them on Twitter ( @bankofengland ) with the hashtag #ThinkScience.

The Bank of England will announce the featured person on the £50 note in 2019, along with the new banknote design. Check out the campaign video featuring mathematician Isaac Newton and naturalist Charles Darwin as spokespeople: