The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
by Simon Singh

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
List Price: $15.95
Our Price: $7.00
You Save: $8.95 (56%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.74 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Simon Singh
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2000-08-29
ISBN: 0385495323
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Anchor

Book Reviews of The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

Book Review: secret communications makes the history
Summary: 5 Stars

You will learn all about how secret communications through code have created the history of europe, middle east and other nations. Just get this book.

Summary of The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

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.

People love secrets. Ever since the first word was written, humans have sent coded messages to each other. In The Code Book, Simon Singh, author of the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, offers a peek into the world of cryptography and codes, from ancient texts through computer encryption. Singh's compelling history is woven through with stories of how codes and ciphers have played a vital role in warfare, politics, and royal intrigue. The major theme of The Code Book is what Singh calls "the ongoing evolutionary battle between codemakers and codebreakers," never more clear than in the chapters devoted to World War?II. Cryptography came of age during that conflict, as secret communications became critical to both sides' success.

Confronted with the prospect of defeat, the Allied cryptanalysts had worked night and day to penetrate German ciphers. It would appear that fear was the main driving force, and that adversity is one of the foundations of successful codebreaking.

In the information age, the fear that drives cryptographic improvements is both capitalistic and libertarian--corporations need encryption to ensure that their secrets don't fall into the hands of competitors and regulators, and ordinary people need encryption to keep their everyday communications private in a free society. Similarly, the battles for greater decryption power come from said competitors and governments wary of insurrection.

The Code Book is an excellent primer for those wishing to understand how the human need for privacy has manifested itself through cryptography. Singh's accessible style and clear explanations of complex algorithms cut through the arcane mathematical details without oversimplifying. --Therese Littleton

Cryptography Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Cryptography Books
Cryptography: A Primer ImageCryptography: A Primer
by Alan G. Konheim
John Wiley & Sons Inc; Published: 1981-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $118.84
Price in other shops: $215.00
The Physics of Quantum Information: Quantum Cryptography, Quantum Teleportation, Quantum Computation ImageThe Physics of Quantum Information: Quantum Cryptography, Quantum Teleportation, Quantum Computation
Springer; Published: 2000-06-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $84.95
Price in other shops: $115.00
Disappearing Cryptography, Second Edition - Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking ImageDisappearing Cryptography, Second Edition - Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking
by Peter Wayner
Morgan Kaufmann; Morgan Kaufmann; Published: 2002-04-29; Kindle Edition; eBooks
Best price: $40.79
Price in other shops: $62.95
Secure XML: The New Syntax for Signatures and Encryption ImageSecure XML: The New Syntax for Signatures and Encryption
by Donald E. Eastlake, Kitty Niles
Pearson Education; Published: 2002-07-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $33.99
Price in other shops: $44.99
Cryptography and E-Commerce: A Wiley Tech Brief ImageCryptography and E-Commerce: A Wiley Tech Brief
by Jon C. Graff
Wiley; Published: 2000-12-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.48
Price in other shops: $29.99
Cryptography Demystified ImageCryptography Demystified
by John Hershey
McGraw-Hill Professional; Published: 2002-08-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $30.52
Price in other shops: $55.00
Information Security Intelligence: Cryptographic Principles & Applications ImageInformation Security Intelligence: Cryptographic Principles & Applications
by Thomas Calabrese
Delmar Cengage Learning; Published: 2003-12-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $45.00
Price in other shops: $84.95
Satellite Encryption ImageSatellite Encryption
by John R. Vacca
Academic Press; Published: 1999-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $139.16
Public Key Infrastructure: Building Trusted Applications and Web Services ImagePublic Key Infrastructure: Building Trusted Applications and Web Services
by John R. Vacca
Auerbach Publications; Published: 2004-05-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $58.69
Price in other shops: $83.95
The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography ImageThe Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography
by Simon Singh
Doubleday; Published: 1999-09-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.91
Price in other shops: $24.95
Similar Books and other products
Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World ImageSecrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World
by Bruce Schneier
Wiley; Published: 2004-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.43
Price in other shops: $17.95
Top Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing ImageTop Secret: A Handbook of Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing
Candlewick; Published: 2006-04-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.82
Price in other shops: $7.99
Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics ImageJourney through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics
by William Dunham
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1991-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.13
Price in other shops: $16.00
Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Edition ImageApplied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Edition
by Bruce Schneier
Wiley; Published: 1996-10-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.66
Price in other shops: $60.00
The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet ImageThe Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet
by David Kahn
Scribner; Published: 1996-12-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $45.60
Price in other shops: $75.00
Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.) ImageBig Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.)
by Simon Singh
Harper Perennial; Published: 2005-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $15.99
Cryptanalysis ImageCryptanalysis
by Helen F. Gaines
Dover Publications; Published: 1989-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.37
Price in other shops: $9.95
Cryptography Decrypted ImageCryptography Decrypted
by H. X. Mel, Doris M. Baker
Addison-Wesley Professional; Published: 2000-12-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.55
Price in other shops: $44.99
Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing (Test Your Code Breaking Skills) ImageCodes, Ciphers and Secret Writing (Test Your Code Breaking Skills)
by Martin Gardner
Dover Publications; Published: 1984-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.04
Price in other shops: $4.95
Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem ImageFermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest Mathematical Problem
by SIMON SINGH
Anchor; Published: 1998-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops: $14.95