Unsolved!: The History and Mystery of the World's Greatest Ciphers from Ancient Egypt to Online Secret Societies - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Craig P. Bauer is professor of mathematics at York College of Pennsylvania. He is editor in chief of the journal Cryptologia, has served as a scholar in residence at the NSA's Center for Cryptologic History, and is the author of Secret History: The Story of Cryptology. He lives in York, Pennsylvania.

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"A mind-bending joy of a book. Bauer investigates the mysteries of secret writing with a storyteller s eye and the latest technology, digging into spectacular and macabre tales of murderers, spies, Viking runestones, strange manuscripts, buried gold, and wireless messages from Mars. Unsolved! makes the world seem bigger, weirder, and more wonderful."--Jason Fagone, author of Ingenious: A True Story of Invention, Automotive Daring, and the Race to Revive America

"In this intriguing casebook of hidden clues and secret messages, Craig Bauer is the perfect guide to cracking ciphers."--Adrienne Mayor, author of The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World

"A connection between the cipher language of a fifteenth-century manuscript and the taunting enciphered messages of the twentieth-century Zodiac Killer seems unlikely. Yet in this well-chosen survey of unsolved cryptographic problems, we learn how these and a host of other cipher conundrums are related. Illuminating examples, clear technical explanations, and a brisk writing style combine to make Unsolved! an informative and rewarding read."--Glen Miranker, former Apple chief technology officer (hardware)

"A stunning journey through the mysteries of codes and ciphers! Excellent and outstanding!"--David Naccache, École normale supérieure, France

"A great book and a major contribution."--Klaus Schmeh, author of Cryptography and Public Key Infrastructure on the Internet

"Exceptional. Not only are these ciphers fascinating individually, but together they provide a comprehensive picture of the different methods and types of encryption, which Bauer explains and guides readers through in turn. I thoroughly enjoyed this book."--Todd S. Sauter, former docent at the National Cryptologic Museum

"A welcome addition to the growing popular literature on cryptology. Bauer explains concepts very clearly and illustrates them with examples, so that the book is self-contained and requires little prerequisite mathematical or cryptological background knowledge on the part of the reader."--John W. Dawson, Jr., author of Logical Dilemmas: The Life and Work of Kurt Gödel