The code book : the evolution of secrecy from Mary Queen of Scots to quantum cryptography

Simon Singh

Anchor Books | 1999 | 411 páginas | epub | 5,3 Mb

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People love secrets. Ever since the first word was written, humans have sent coded messages to each other. In The Code Book, Simon Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, offers a peek into the world of cryptography and codes, from ancient texts through computer encryption. Singh's compelling history is woven through with stories of how codes and ciphers have played a vital role in warfare, politics, and royal intrigue. The major theme of The Code Book is what Singh calls "the ongoing evolutionary battle between codemakers and codebreakers," never more clear than in the chapters devoted to World War II. Cryptography came of age during that conflict, as secret communications became critical to both sides' success.

Confronted with the prospect of defeat, the Allied cryptanalysts had worked night and day to penetrate German ciphers. It would appear that fear was the main driving force, and that adversity is one of the foundations of successful codebreaking.

In the information age, the fear that drives cryptographic improvements is both capitalistic and libertarian--corporations need encryption to ensure that their secrets don't fall into the hands of competitors and regulators, and ordinary people need encryption to keep their everyday communications private in a free society. Similarly, the battles for greater decryption power come from said competitors and governments wary of insurrection.

The Code Book is an excellent primer for those wishing to understand how the human need for privacy has manifested itself through cryptography. Singh's accessible style and clear explanations of complex algorithms cut through the arcane mathematical details without oversimplifying. --Therese Littleton

Contents

Epigraph

Introduction

1 The Cipher of Mary Queen of Scots

2 Le Chiffre Indéchiffrable

3 The Mechanization of Secrecy

4 Cracking the Enigma

5 The Language Barrier

6 Alice and Bob Go Public

7 Pretty Good Privacy

8 A Quantum Leap into the Future

The Cipher Challenge

Appendices

Glossary

Acknowledgments

Further Reading