Another bad school report
The centenary of Alan Turing, the maths brainbox and father of computer science, is coming up on June 23. It’s always comforting to find that people we regard as super-clever often had a bumpy start at school. In Alan’s case, he didn’t impress his teachers at Sherborne School much. Not because he wasn’t brilliant at maths – he was. But more because, back then, education meant the classics – Greek, Latin, history, art, poetry, languages, philosphy etc. His headmaster wrote in a report to his parents: “He must aim at becoming educated. If he is to be solely a scientific specialist, he is wasting his time.”
How things have changed! In our modern world, maths and science are key tools in this computer and internet age.
For parents despairing of their children’s school reports, please remember that Darwin had a dreadful school career, that Van Gogh was miserably unpopular, that Galileo was almost kicked out of university and that Leonardo da Vinci didn’t even go to school! He had to teach himself.
Find out all these cheering titbits in NowYouKnowAbout’s short films for anyone aged 6 – 100 who’s interested in famous people who made their mark.
Recent Comments