The code book: How to make it, break it, hack it, crack it, for young people

✍ Scribed by Simon Singh

• Publisher: Delacorte
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 273
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

It’s known as the science of secrecy. Cryptography: the encoding and decoding of private information. And it is history’s most fascinating story of intrigue and cunning. From Julius Caesar and his Caesar Cipher to the code used by Mary Queen of Scots and her conspiracy to the use of the Engima machine during the Second World War, Simon Singh follows the evolution of secret writing. Accessible, compelling, and timely, this international bestseller, now adapted for young people, is sure to make readers see the past—and the future—in a whole new way. From the Hardcover edition.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
The Code Book - HOW TO MAKE IT, BREAK IT, HACK IT, CRACK IT......Page 4
Copyright - ISBN: 0385730624......Page 5
CONTENTS......Page 8
INTRODUCTION......Page 10
1. The Cipher of Mary Queen of Scots: The birth of cryptography, the substitution cipher and the invention of codebreaking by frequency analysis......Page 14
2. The Anonymous Codebreaker: The Vigenère cipher, why cryptographers seldom get credit for their breakthroughs and a tale of buried treasure......Page 60
3. The Mechanization of Secrecy: The Zimmermann telegram, the Enigma machine and how cryptography changed the courses of World Wars I and II......Page 104
4. The Language Barrier: The impenetrability of unknown languages, the Navajo code talkers of World War II and the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs......Page 161
5. Alice and Bob Go Public: Modern cryptography, the solution to the so-called key-distribution problem and the secret history of nonsecret encryption......Page 189
6. Pretty Good Privacy: The politics of privacy, the future of cryptography and the quest for an uncrackable code......Page 230
THE CODEBREAKER’S CHALLENGE......Page 252
APPENDIX A: The Opening of A Void by Georges Perec translated by Gilbert Adair......Page 254
APPENDIX B: Some Elementary Tips for Frequency Analysis......Page 255
Appendix C: The So-Called Bible Code......Page 257
APPENDIX D: The Pigpen Cipher......Page 258
APPENDIX E: The Mathematics of RSA......Page 259
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 262
FURTHER READING......Page 264
PICTURE CREDITS......Page 269
INDEX......Page 270