The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
On March - 22 - 20105 COMMENTS
- ISBN13: 9780385495325
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
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… More >>
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
For the most part… it was a very interesting book. It’s biggest FAILURE was not having a better understanding of ‘WHAT’ the mystery is really about… ‘WHO’ created the mystery and ‘Why’ it was created… ‘Where’ the mystery will ultimately take you to. Mr. Singh and others like him have no idea that the one ‘allegedly’ deciphered message STILL HAS parts that have as yet not been divulged to any one other than myself. IF he were truly serious about an accurate understanding of the B…eale mystery… he should have spoken to me first.
Rating: 2 / 5
The cover of the book is obviously designed to resemble “The Bible Code,” and I suspect that people who like it are impressionable folk like the ones who bought “The Bible Code.” Much more could have been done in a book about such an important and interesting topic. Perhaps in the U.K there is much interest in Mary, Queen of Scots. I would have liked to see deeper explanations of the theory of coding. The material on quantum cryptology was especially weak, I thought. Perhaps someone else will write something on this fascinating topic.
Rating: 1 / 5
So OK, I’m one of those people that has to read the book all the way through. I can’t stop reading something once I’ve started because then it would be like some kind of defeat or something. And with this book I had gotten into a big discussion with my brother about whether I would really read it or if I was just clicking away on Amazon at things that I might like but wasn’t really, really interested in. So I had something to prove. The upshot is that I wanted to stop reading this book but I couldn’t, so it started to annoy me. I liked the subject a lot and I think the author’s style was very accessible, his writing was “readable”, as they say. What annoyed me unfortunately was his enthusiasm. At times he would strive to point out what geniuses these guys were and how their contribution changed the course of history and how cryptography is this great unheralded scientific and cultural discipline. Alright already, I get it. It’s all so amazing. Got it. I can see that the men and women that made great strides in cryptography had minds that worked in “special” ways. I enjoyed hearing the stories. It just got old in the end and the world of cryptography started to seem less like spies and covert-Op’s and more like a Trekkie convention.
Rating: 3 / 5
as (they say) Albert Einstein said (referring to some conceptual framework in quantum mechanic (which BTW he didn’t initially get right)). Anyone reading the “popular” (quite a bit biased/peppered) account of the WWII and the parallel “word/messaging”/intelligence war, might come to the conclusion that the amusing British secrecy games and the D-day invasion, delayed by the US. Gov. to the point you couldn’t tell if it was tactic or strategic, won it. When the NAZI army were being defeated and bent to the ground by the “Red” army on the Eastern front, which was actually the turning point of the war.
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In fact you may find books out there which would have a narrative more into trying to show you how the NAZIs would have won WWII. Ach! Yeah, Sure!
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Most wrong things (or at the point they get to be wrong) naturally come to terms by themselves to a large extent and within. Even if you may hear some people say stuff like Pr. Ronald Reagan defeated communism with his silly star war arm race or Pr. Bush “liberated/democratized” Iraq (I bet there are books about that too), I think the two main factors that brought to an end NAZI Germany were:
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1._ their most basic premises were wrong, both in “their mind” (culturally speaking) and “on the ground” (as it so similarly happened with Pr. Bush’s Iraq’s engagement)
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2._ the Red army beat the hell out of pesky NAZI offensive
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Also Mr Singh, do you really believe the British “intelligence” didn’t know Alan Turing was gay? Really? Give me a break! They just used him as they would have anyone else. I found quite excessive, abusive and sad that his life was tormented to the point of committing suicide (or probably killed?) by the same people he so dutifully and wholeheartedly served. On the other hand I am glad that the Polish Mathematician Marian Rejewski took credit for having actually been the one who deciphered the so called freaking NAZIs “Enigma” machines.
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In general this is a -good- book directed at the masses not the specialist, but taking historical circumstances into consideration, the soap-opera-like writing style is more than half way off. The WWI primarily and most fundamentally was a very bloody historical reality not just a mathematical/secrecy play.
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I think it is worthy to recall that millions of people died/were killed in this large-scale nonsense, which as historically documented, was being performed already in full swing by the British empire in their colonial overseas territories, the only difference being that NAZIs were less imaginative and decided to throw the party home, right in Europe.
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It is also baffling to see the nonsensical stupidity by so-called “intelligence” services and “Deutschland ueber alles” mentality still happening in our times.
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otf
Rating: 4 / 5
This is a good book to provide a minimal background for most people for the subject of encryption. For many this might not be an exciting subject. But thanks to this book it helps explain its relevance and history. Besides providing a background on encryption it highlights a story about a true hero of great genius. Unfortunately as the story unfolds he will be maligned and harassed until he ends his life, just because he was homosexual. Regardless of his choice of partners, his work and mind were brilliant.
Rating: 3 / 5