The Code Book<\/i> by Simon Singh<\/p>\n
This is another book that I put on my paperbackswap wish list and promptly forgot why. But the wish list did not fail me, as I found it a very enjoyable read. Essentially this book is a description of the evolution of cryptography from ancient times to the present, and projections into the future. I had steeled myself for a rather academic read, but found it not a dry recitation of crypto methodology, but rather interesting information artfully intertwined and backed up with real stories where cryptography and cryptanalysis have played a major, sometimes life or death, role.<\/p>\n
As I was reading it, I noticed a lot of stories and events that were integral to the book Cryptonomicon<\/i>. In fact, I think that a WWII event mentioned in The Code Book<\/i> was fictionalized as a faked event in Cryptonomicon<\/i>… I want to check that out.<\/p>\n
Also, Cryptonomicon<\/i> gets its name from a non-existent bible of cryptography said to have been created a long time ago and added to over the decades. In The Code Book<\/i>, it is said that Charles Babbage started work on such a book in the early 1800’s, but got distracted and never finished it. I’m wondering if Stephenson hypothesized that Babbage or a successor finished that book. I need to go back and check.<\/p>\n
All of which is to say that I would not have been the least surprised if Stephenson had read The Code Book<\/i>, except for the fact that both books were published in the same year (1999). Then again, if two people are researching cryptography, it’s fairly likely they’ll get the same data.<\/p>\n
One neat bit is that at the end of The Code Book<\/i> the author presents a contest (for prize money) that was to end in 2010, a series of 10 progressively difficult cryptographic puzzles. The solutions to all 10<\/a> were found by some Swedish scientists in 13 months.<\/p>\n I have dabbled in<\/a> some low grade cryptanalysis<\/a>, so I may try my hand at level 1 and 2 at some point. When I have a bunch of free time. By which I mean, never.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Code Book by Simon Singh This is another book that I put on my paperbackswap wish list and promptly forgot why. But the wish list did not fail me, as I found it a very enjoyable read. Essentially this … Continue reading