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marieeve1978's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely fascinating. Simon Singh has a great faculty to explain in a simple way very complex concepts. I highly recommend this book.
cinchona's review against another edition
4.0
Quite a solid read! I went through this book with a class of gifted students learning cryptography as a math course: it was a great jumping-off point for discussion and for learning! The presentation is both historical and detailed on the technical side, which draws in a wide range of readers and gives them a hook into the material. I agree with my students' reviews that the chapters about Babbage (Ch3) leading up to Enigma (Ch4) were the most gripping -- and readable completely on their own if desired.
The only place the book fell down, in my students' estimation, was Chapter 8 on quantum cryptography -- note the publication date. 30 years ago quantum computers were still a hypothetical, and it would be too much to expect, perhaps, a pop-sci type book to explain them in any detail. Either due to the difficulty or novelty of the topic, that chapter is rough and dull and worth skipping.
Beyond that one weakness, this book is top-notch. It is accessible and fun and fascinating. It tells a coherent historical narrative while skillfully unfurling mathematical developments and giving credit to some of history's forgotten geniuses. It gets very detailed into classical and digital cryptography with great technical success, such that it's a great intro to a more mathematical treatment later. I'm surprised how good it was!
The only place the book fell down, in my students' estimation, was Chapter 8 on quantum cryptography -- note the publication date. 30 years ago quantum computers were still a hypothetical, and it would be too much to expect, perhaps, a pop-sci type book to explain them in any detail. Either due to the difficulty or novelty of the topic, that chapter is rough and dull and worth skipping.
Beyond that one weakness, this book is top-notch. It is accessible and fun and fascinating. It tells a coherent historical narrative while skillfully unfurling mathematical developments and giving credit to some of history's forgotten geniuses. It gets very detailed into classical and digital cryptography with great technical success, such that it's a great intro to a more mathematical treatment later. I'm surprised how good it was!
grapefrench's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
3.75
Great intro to cryptography that utilizes historic stories to bring the math to life.
lukerik's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
A masterclass in how to explain something very complex so that even Moron Boy here will understand. It’s a history from a strip of leather wound round a stick to ideas that will make you question the nature of reality. Storywise it’s quite exciting at times. I’ve recently read a couple of books about codes and put off reading this because I thought it might be a bit heavy going. I now wish I’d read this first because I’d have followed them much easier. Singh has a way of talking his way in to a subject so you can follow him.
This book was written back when crypto meant crypto but still up to date. He closes with a discussion of quantum computing and cryptography and raises some very worrying questions over whether or not those advances have already been secretly achieved.
This book was written back when crypto meant crypto but still up to date. He closes with a discussion of quantum computing and cryptography and raises some very worrying questions over whether or not those advances have already been secretly achieved.
tobymacl's review against another edition
4.0
Fun frolic through history of codes and breaking. Informative and entertaining. Only drawback is being 20+ years out of date! Well written and intelligent without being difficult or patronising. Good job
fdemey's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Nice overview of the evolution of cryptography and a nice refresher on public key encryption. I really liked the appendix on that. I learned about quantum cryptography. What an exciting topic! Did rekindle my interest in PGP, without making me overly paranoid.