(CNN) -- On North Halsted Street, between Buckingham and Roscoe in Chicago, a monument stands with a plaque in honor of a brilliant thinker who is as responsible for the way we live our lives today as any person who has ever lived.

His name is Alan Turing, a Brit, and among his many credits and accolades, many historians refer to him as "the father of computer science." When Time magazine listed him among its 100 most influential people of the 20th century, it said "that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine."

A pretty high honor to say the least. And yet in 1952, while filing a robbery report with the police, Turing -- the man whose algorithms cracked the Enigma code used by the Nazis in World War II -- found himself arrested at his home in England.

His crime? Being gay.

Turing was convicted of "gross indecency," a felony in Britain at that time. He was forced to choose between prison and being injected with female hormones, a form of chemical castration.

He reluctantly chose the latter. Despite his accomplishments, he lost his job. And in June 1954, he lost his will to live. He was 41.

If the Western world is somewhat haunted by what Steve Jobs might have accomplished had cancer not taken him from us, we should be downright tormented by what we lost from the senseless excommunication of his predecessor.

Now, provide a numbered list of answers to these questions:

1. Who does the monument honor?
2. Was he heterosexual?
3. Did he take his own life?
4. How old was he when he died?
5. Why was he excommunicated?
6. What were the circumstances of his arrest?
7. Was he a British citizen?
8. What do historians call him?
9. What honor did he get from Time magazine?
10. What were his options after being arrested?
11. What did he pick?
12. Did he choose willingly?
13. What crime was he convicted of?
14. Is this a misdemeanor?
15. Is it a felony?
16. Where is the statue located?
17. What street is it on?
18. Does the monument have a plaque?

Numbered answers:
1. Alan Turing
2. no
3. yes
4. 41
5. Being gay.
6. he was filing a robbery report
7. yes
8. the father of computer science
9. one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century
10. choose between prison and being injected with female hormones
11. being injected with female hormones
12. no
13. gross indecency
14. no
15. yes
16. Chicago
17. North Halsted Street
18. yes