Overview
The achievements of cryptography, the art of writing and deciphering coded messages, have become a part of everyday life, especially in our age of electronic banking and the Internet. In Code Breaking , Rudolf Kippenhahn offers readers both an exciting chronicle of cryptography and a lively exploration of the cryptographer’s craft. Rich with vivid anecdotes from a history of coding and decoding and featuring three new chapters, this revised and expanded edition makes the often abstruse art of deciphering coded messages accessible to the general reader and reveals the relevance of codes to our everyday high-tech society. A stylishly written, meticulously researched adventure, Code Breaking explores the ways in which communication can be obscured and, like magic, made clear again.
Synopsis
The achievements of cryptography—the art of writing and deciphering coded messages—have become a part of everyday life, especially in our age of electronic banking and the Internet. In this provocative work, Rudolf Kippenhahn offers readers both an exciting chronicle of cryptography and a lively exploration of the cryptographer's craft. Rich with vivid anecdotes from a history of coding and decoding, Code Breaking brings the often abstruse art of deciphering coded messages to the general reader and reveals the relevance of codes to our everyday high-tech society. A stylishly written, meticulously researched adventure, it will enthrall everyone who wants to know more about the ways in which communicationcan be obscured and, like magic, made clear again.
"A breezy survey of codes, ranging from the betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots, ...to the nature of credit card security."—The New York Times
"Interesting and hugely informative reading ...[Kippenhahn] is a cryptology master." —Scientific American
"The definitive look at the subject."-Booklist
"-This fascinating history of cryptology offers many ...remarkable stories."—The Christian Science Monitor
"-Fascinating, clever, and informative ...A thoroughly satisfying book!"—Choice
A Selection of Doubleday's Library of Science Book Club
A Choice Academic Book of the Year
Library Journal
Astrophysicist Kippenhahn (One Hundred Billion Stars, Princeton Univ., 1993) attempts to introduce the general reader to the history of cryptology, with much of his book covering the events and intrigue surrounding World War II and the German cipher machine known as Enigma. Sadly, Kippenhahns use of narrative prose with stodgy technical jargon leaves the reader with neither a good story nor hard science. The documentation used in the text is sparse at best, and the annotated bibliography contains a mere handful of titles; no glossary of terms is included. Though a generous selection of illustrations is sprinkled throughout, this in no way offsets the inherent weaknesses of the volume. Not recommended.Dayne Sherman, Southeastern Louisiana Univ., Hammond