The Cracking Code Book
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
The Cracking Code Book
By (Author) Simon Singh
HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins
27th April 2005
United Kingdom
Classifications
Primary and Secondary Educational
Non Fiction
Educational: Mathematics and numeracy
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Mysteries and the unexplained
Childrens / Teenage general interest: History and the past
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Computing and Information Technology
Childrens / Teenage general interest: Law, police and crime
652.8
Physical Properties
Paperback
272
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 17mm
190g
Description
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 USD20 million treasure.
Reviews
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
Author Bio
Simon Singh is a science journalist and TV producer. Having completed his PhD at Cambridge he worked from 1991 to 1997 at the BBC producing Tomorrows World and co-directing the BAFTA award-winning documentary Fermats Last Theorem for the Horizon series. In 1997, he published Fermats Last Theorem, which was a no 1 best-seller in Britain and translated into 22 languages. In 1999, he published The Code Book which was also an international bestseller and was the basis for the Channel 4 series The Science of Secrecy.
