The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography » (Reprint)

Simon Singh received his Ph.D. in physics from Cambridge University. A former BBC producer, he directed and co-produced an award-winning documentary film on Fermat's Last Theorem that aired on PBS's Nova series and formed the basis of his bestselling book, Fermat's Enigma. He lives in London.

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 technological and mathematical explanations, and portrayals 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, what drives it, and how private that e-mail you just sent really is.

Introduction
Chapter 1: The Cipher of Mary Queen of Scots
Chapter 2: Le Chiffre Indechiffrable
Chapter 3: The Mechanisation of Secrecy
Chapter 4: Cracking the Enigma
Chapter 5: The Language Barrier
Chapter 6: Alice and Bob Go Public
Chapter 7: Pretty Good Privacy
Chapter 8: A Quantum Leap into the Future
The Cipher Challenge
Appendices
Glossary
Acknowledgements
Further Reading
Picture
Credits
Index