it’s an nice book for those interested in the mysterious world of cryptography. from its origins to coding in the 21st century, simon singh takes the reader down the long winding road of the evolution of cryptography. while it is certainly an interesting book, it’s not an easy read. be warned, gentle reader!

simon singh provides numerous examples to explain the different kinds of codes. you could get caught up in trying to figure out how a simple message was shuffled, crumpled and broken up into gibberish and then put back together again. unless, of course, you decide to just turn the page!

what i found most interesting about the book were the little stories about the unsung heroes and heroines of cryptography. their eccentricities, their ingenuity and the closed world in which they had to work. while their intelligence is truly admirable, it remained a secret from the world. until it was no longer relevant to their bosses.

i think the book’s worth reading.

Made fast work of this one. Interesting to see how much Neal Stephenson knows about this stuff. Puts a lot of Cryptonomicon into context.

I never thoguht this would be the sort of book I’d read (I don’t usually go for anything thats a bit sciency or techy). BYt the author presents the subject matter in such a way that I think a child could follwo it.

Very good book!