The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
Simon Singh
Jan 2011 · Anchor
4.7star
38 reviews
Ebook
432
Pages
About this ebook
In his first book since the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logisitical breakthrough that made Internet commerce secure, The Code Book tells the story of the most powerful intellectual weapon ever known: secrecy.
Throughout the text are clear technical and mathematical explanations, and portraits of the remarkable personalities who wrote and broke the world's most difficult codes. Accessible, compelling, and remarkably far-reaching, this book will forever alter your view of history and what drives it. It will also make you wonder how private that e-mail you just sent really is.
Throughout the text are clear technical and mathematical explanations, and portraits of the remarkable personalities who wrote and broke the world's most difficult codes. Accessible, compelling, and remarkably far-reaching, this book will forever alter your view of history and what drives it. It will also make you wonder how private that e-mail you just sent really is.
Ratings and reviews
4.7
38 reviews
A Google user
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September 5, 2012
Love the way the history was used to introduce new cryptography concepts. It had great stories and great reference information about various cyphers. I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in codes.
kumar
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September 18, 2014
Loved it. Concepts given in precise and compact manner ,but in fun manner. some times the examples can be tedious but overall fun book
A Google user
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January 3, 2012
Did not download!
About the author
Simon Singh received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cambridge. A former BBC producer, he directed an award-winning documentary film on Fermat's Last Theorem that aired on PBS's "Nova" series, and wrote the bestselling book Fermat's Enigma. He lives in London, England.
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