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| Sunday, 5 September 2004 |
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Review : The Code Book - By Simon Singh Reviewed by Akeela Mariff Have you heard of the Morse code? Yes or no. It doesn't matter, I assure you that the time you spend readingThe Code Book is time well spent. The Code Book by Simon Singh is the ideal read to learn more about the evolution of ciphers (Codes) and the famous code makers and code breakers of history. The book addresses the subtle science of secrecy, from ancient Egypt to quantum cryptography. Cryptography, be it a science or a form of art, Simon Singh presents it to us in well researched paragraphs offering vivid details of incidents of the usage of ciphers throughout the history of the world. Since the early stagesof mankind, as early as sketches in rock caves were invented to tell a story, humans began writing in code. This primitive obsession with secrecy within the human mind has had dramatic effects in the outcome of wars, monarchies, fortunes as well as individual lives. Amongst many extraordinary examples, Simon Singh relates in detail of the tragic life and death of Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own coded letters and put to death by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England and the strange history of the Beale ciphers, describing the hidden location of a priceless fortune of gold and silver, in the depths of Virginia, U.S.A in the nineteenth century. The Beale fortune was to be distributed among friends and family of those who laboured to unearth the fortune and the Beale cipher was the only document describing where the treasure is buried and how to distribute it. But sadly to this day, no one has been able to break the cipher to get to the treasure. The book also provided fascinating insights on famous personalities. For example I was disappointed to learn that Charles Babbage, a brilliant scholar and the father of computers had a habit of not completing what he started. The involvement of ciphers and cryptographers in the world wars are illustrated through the account of the deciphering of the Zimmermen telegram, which made all the difference at a crucial stage of the First World War.Another aspect, which makes the book very interesting as well as challenging, is the detailed views and descriptions of ciphers and deciphering techniques. At the end of the book is a worldwide cipher challenge for the reader to test his skills. Now with the dawn of the age of the InformationSuper highway and hope of a truly unbreakable code reaching nearer every day, Cryptography has become one of the major topics for debates of our time. From naval intelligence officers, to computer hackers, lovers or just crossword fanatics, ciphers interest a cross section of the society. Simon Singh investigates the challenges that technology had brought to cryptography from the Morse code to radio waves. Dramatic, compelling and remarkably far fetching, The Code Book will forever alter your view of human history. And no matter what technology has brought to personal privacy today, it will no doubt makeyou think how private your last email really was. |
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