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

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

Book Review: "Popular science" that is accurate and easy to read
Summary: 5 Stars

The strength of Singh's book is its readability and structure. He introduces various methods of encoding information, points out the weaknesses that were exploited to break the code, then how the cryptographers came up with a new code to foil the codebreakers. Singh especially stresses the practicality of each method - there are very simple encoding schemes that are actually unbreakable, but also completely impractical for everyday use. This is especially important to the military - what good is a battlefield code if it takes too long to decode?

Early chapters are of historical interest, but also contain codes and ciphers that are very easy to understand, so the reader gets comfortable with the language and problems of cryptography. Each chapter presents a more complex cipher than the previous, and each time Singh explains it easily, even such convoluted automations as the Nazi Enigma machine. He offers some fascinating diversions into ancient language elucidation (e.g., heiroglyphics), and eventually ends with a discussion of quantum computers and quantum cryptography. This is an area especially challenging to explain to the lay reader - based on the other reviews, he has done well. This section is clear and fascinating to read. As a chemist familiar with quantum mechanics, I can assure you that the scientific facts are presented accurately, much to the author's credit.

Therefore, I highly recommend this book as an insightful, educational, and enjoyable introduction to cryptography. You will learn a lot, and will enjoy learning it.

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