well done
Rating:
5 / 5
As I do not work for M.I.6, the N.S.A. or some other `Secret Service' a computer program as Wolfram's ` Mathematical Explorer' [at Amazon for $75, or so] which can encrypt a message by R.S.A [heavy duty crypto] is `really' all I need. I have a number of books on all kinds of cryptography ... `classical' crypto, `Codes' [different from cyphers], number theory and so on. While there are `better' books on specific parts of cryptology this book is by far the best overall introduction. The title of this book scared me a bit. I have never been that `comfortable' with some sorts of maths and this book `sounded' brutal, and while it is a `math' book it is really not impossible to `figure out' [although some spots I must have read twenty times but thats the topic]. `REQUIRED BACKGROUND' You can `do' with less but it helps to know basic algebra and understand variables. The vocabulary and nomenclature of areas as Set Theory and Probability [which I had to `study up' on] would be `nice' but you can `slide' without them, Reading level: age 14 through senility :-) [ but a challenge for those `dead and encrypted'.
`Classical', pen and paper, cryptology: B+
Clear Writing: A-
The `History' of cryptology: C+
Physical [binding and paper, type, type size ... ] B Also covered in detail is "public key' cryptography which as I wrote I do by `pre - written' computer program.
Wonderful book
Rating:
5 / 5
I *loved* this book. It covers the essential number theory required to understand various encryption schemes, and while it is a thin book, it doesn't omit any steps between various mathematical steps (" ... and then magic happens ..."). You end up with the satisfying feeling of being able to derive the proof for RSA, starting from high-school math.
Highly recommended.
Some math is just plain fun and this is one such area
Rating:
5 / 5
I cannot speak for the female side of the human race, but when I was young all the boys wanted to be a spy. We formed clubs and pretended to be secret agents. It was such great fun to create and use the codes to encrypt, pass and decode our important messages. Reading this book took me back to those days, not only reminding me of the good times we had but also how serious encryption is.
This book was a good deal of fun to read, but underlying the fun there is an air of extreme seriousness. It is not an exaggeration to say that secure encryption is the key to the efficient functioning of the global economy. Billions of dollars are electronically moved every day and without the security of unbreakable encryption, it would all be too unreliable to use. If the current codes were proven to be breakable, it would be a catastrophe, probably the only threat to the world economy that does not involve a major natural disaster.
The mathematics of encryption are surprisingly easy to understand. Starting with the simple substitution ciphers and moving through the more complex polyalphabetic and polygraphic substitutions, the techniques to create and break them are described. For most of the codes, the most complex mathematics needed to understand them is a basic understanding of matrices and how they are added and multiplied. It is only in the last chapter of public key cryptography where some advanced mathematics of number theory are used. Each chapter ends with a set of problems and solutions to the even ones are given in an appendix.
This would be an excellent textbook for a course in applied mathematics. There is an inherent fascinating quality to the subject matter and the tales of encryption are very well done. I strongly recommend that you read it.
Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.
|