Found this book lurking on the shelves in the CompSci area of our university library and thought I’d read it just to see if it was interesting. As a child, like many of the people described in the book, I had a fascination with codes, code-breaking, the old lemon juice and matches approach to hiding and finding messages. That interest waned as I got more interested in other things … writing, coding, etc. Until this book.
Steven Levy’s Crypto is a fantastic tale, immersing you in both the events in the history of the crypto movement (and the cypherpunks) and the personalities involved. He really seems concerned with telling a story, but along the way you learn massive amounts about the various agencies and organisations involved, along with the algorithms and other tech advances that brought crypto to the masses.
I got a much better understanding of various aspects of encoding, decoding and general computer security from this, as well as a sense of wonder at the things going on in the background whenever I use a computer. I was also entertained for many train journeys and evenings — I would recommend this book to anyone from the coder who wants a better understanding of the algorithms being used in secure applications to those with just a passing interest in how these new-fangled computer thingeys are changing our society. Crypto meets a variety of needs in an interesting and captivating way.
[Note: The picture is nicked from the Amazon page that it links to, where you can buy the book]
Comments (4) Permalink
March 8th, 2004 at 7:26 PM
If you’re interested in cryptography, it’s well worth flicking through Bruce Schneier’s Applied Cryptography, which is much more readable than might be expected.
March 9th, 2004 at 11:08 AM
Thanks for the tip — ironically, Amazon had already suggested it when I put “Crypto” on my wishlist, so it’s been added. Nice to know that it’s actually readable as well though 😉
Do you just have an interest, Rich, or do you use crypto?
March 9th, 2004 at 6:34 PM
I have a PGP public key but very seldom use it, and that’s the extent of my practical involvement with cryptography. On the other hand, it’s an interesting subject. I’m probably going to read Schneier’s book again in the near future as part of my plan to re-learn all the computer science and physics that I didn’t learn properly the first time round.
My problem is that I’m interested in way too many things! (I sometimes worry that my zillions of Amazon wishlists will achieve sentience and take over the world…)
March 10th, 2004 at 1:33 PM
Of course, a good novel based around cryptography is Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. If you haven’t read it, don’t be put off by its length – well worth a read. It gets inside the mind of computer types quite well, and has a good plot and characters.
Simon Singh’s The Code Book is a good book on crypto through history, and combines the technical stuff with the implications and surrounding context (wars being won/lost, people being executed etc.)
I have a GPG key, which I’ve only used to communicate with one person. (I do have more friends than that, but only one of them is secretive!)