The Cracking Code Book: How to make it, break it, hack it, crack it - Softcover

Singh, Simon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 000717604X ISBN 13: 9780007176045

Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks, 2004

Synopsis

How to make it, break it, hack it, crack it.
The secret history of codes and code breaking.

Simon Singh’s best-selling title The Code Book now re-issued for the young-adult market.

The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography.

Simon Singh brings life to an amazing story of puzzles, codes, languages and riddles – revealing the continual pursuit to disguise and uncover, and to work out the secret languages of others.

Codes have influenced events throughout history, both in the stories of those who make them and those who break them. The betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots and the cracking of the enigma code that helped the Allies in World War II are major episodes in a continuing history of cryptography. In addition to stories of intrigue and warfare, Simon Singh also investigates other codes, the unravelling of genes and the rediscovery of ancient languages and most tantalisingly, the Beale ciphers, an unbroken code that could hold the key to a $20 million treasure.

About this title

Review:

The Code Book
‘...fascinating ... replete with tales of intrigue, political chicanery, military secrecy and academic rivalry.’ The Irish Times

‘A Great Book.’ Observer

Fermat’s Last Theorem
‘If you enjoyed Dava Sobel’s Longitude you will enjoy this.’ Evening Standard

‘Far from being a dry textbook it reads like the chronicle of an obsessive love affair. It has the classic ingredients that Hollywood would recognise.’ Daily Mail

From the Author:

Welcome to the YOUNG READER'S edition of The Code Book. I edited and re-wrote large chunks of the original book to make it suitable for young teenagers, and I hope that you will find it an interesting and exciting introduction to cryptography.
There are very few science books for younger people, so I was keen to rework The Code Book for this readership. Cryptography is a subject that has a great appeal for students interested in science, history, technology and the Informaion Age. I hope that I have created a more digestible version of The Code Book, without sacrificing any of the meaty ideas and scientific concepts that were in the original book.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 000717604X
• ISBN 13: 9780007176045
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 274