The Code Book

Book trivia
Title: The Code Book
Author: Simon Singh
My rating: ****

This was the first time I was reading Simon Singh and the book almost instantly caught my interest. As the cover page reads, it is a narration of the science of secrecy from ancient Egypt to quantum cryptography.

The book assumes no prior knowledge of the subject. It starts off with a description of all the basic cryptographic jargon and then goes on to describe the developments in the field of coding. While full of cyphering and decyphering algorithms, the intriguing mathematical details form a part of the appendix or further reading. It will thus be equally appreciated by a novice and an expert. All the leads are wonderfully connected. The author explains the cause and the result of each development through stories (Queen of Scots, Beale treasure, Navajo tribe, World war etc.) and by presenting the code maker and code breaker perspective. It is this juxtaposition of the coders and decoders that appealed the most to me!

Inventions and innovations are always a result of some need. The need for better security was and is not just for fancy but for a reason. The book keeps this reason at the center and spirals around it. And that's what makes it a wonderful read!

Pointers:
http://www.simonsingh.com/The_Code_Book.html
http://www.amazon.com/Code-Book-Science-Secrecy-Cryptography/dp/0385495323

-Ashish.