Teachers criticised genius codebreaker Alan Turing's 'vague ideas' in school report
The critical report forms part of a revealing exhibition, which includes letters from Turing and rarely seen coding devices.
Monday 23 October 2017 18:49, UK
He went on become a famous wartime codebreaker but when Alan Turing was a child his teachers told him they wanted "sound knowledge rather than vague ideas" from the mathematician.
An eye-opening school report of the Second World War scientist, who is widely seen as the originator of modern computing, is set to go on public display for the first time.
The Codebreakers and Groundbreakers exhibition in Cambridge will also feature other personal items and rarely seen coding devices from the Turing Archive held at King's College in the city.
The report from Sherborne School in Dorset showed Turing, who later carried out groundbreaking work in cracking the Enigma encryption used by the Nazis, had room for improvement, according to his teachers.
Criticising his presentation style, a teacher reminded him to provide a "neat and tidy solution on paper".
A physics teacher noted that he had done "some good work, but generally sets it down badly".
The teacher added: "He must remember that Cambridge will want sound knowledge rather than vague ideas."
However they did note Turing, who went on to study at the University of Cambridge's King's College, had "distinct promise" in maths.
Also on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum will be letters he sent from Britain's former codebreaking headquarters Bletchley Park, to his mother about his sponsorship of two Jewish refugees.
The collection will include a mathematics book chosen by Turing as a prize to honour a close friend, as well as a teaspoon taken from the codebreaker's home after his death in 1954 from cyanide poisoning.
Coding devices will also go on display after permission was granted by GCHQ.
A spokesman said: "We are pleased to be loaning two World War II coding devices rarely made available for public viewing."
The exhibition runs from Tuesday until 4 February next year.
Other prominent figures who were doubted by their teachers include theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, whose schoolmaster said he would "never amount to anything", and former prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, whose teacher said he had "no ambition".