Product Information
The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography From the bestselling author of Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book is an enthralling history of codes and code-breaking from Egyptian puzzles to modern day computer encryptions. Since humans began writing, they have been writing in code. This quest for secrecy has often changed the course of history. In The Code Book, Simon Singh offers a sweeping view of the subject of encryption as well as its more dramatic effects on the outcome of wars, monarchies, and individual lives. Included in this fascinating book is the story of Mary Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code and put to death by Queen Elizabeth. Also recounted is the history of the Beale Ciphers, created in the early nineteenth century to obscure the location of a treasure in gold, buried somewhere in Virginia. Singh also traces the monumental improvements in code-making and -breaking brought on by World Wars I and II, the outcomes of which could have been very different without the brilliance of the Allied code breakers. Now, in the Information Age, the possibility of a truly unbreakable code looms large and cryptography has become one of the major debates of our times. Simon Singh investigates the challenges to personal privacy that technology and the ways we communicate today have upon everyday lives. Dramatic, compelling, and remarkably far reaching, this is a book that will forever alter your view of history, what drives it, and how private that e-mail you just sent really is.Product Identifiers
PublisherHarperCollins
ISBN-139781857028799
eBay Product ID (ePID)91126749
Product Key Features
Number of Pages416 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication NameThe Code Book: the Secret History of Codes and Code-Breaking
Publication Year1999
SubjectComputer Science, Science, Management
TypeTextbook
AuthorDr. Simon Singh
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height242 mm
Item Weight750 g
Additional Product Features
Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom
Title_AuthorDr. Simon Singh