Unsolved! - Craig P. Bauer

Unsolved!

The History and Mystery of the World's Greatest Ciphers from Ancient Egypt to Online Secret Societies

(Autor)

Buch | Hardcover
624 Seiten
2017
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-16767-1 (ISBN)
37,40 inkl. MwSt
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A mathematical tour of some of the greatest unsolved ciphers of all time In 1953, a man was found dead from cyanide poisoning near the Philadelphia airport with a picture of a Nazi aircraft in his wallet. Taped to his abdomen was an enciphered message. In 1912, a book dealer named Wilfrid Voynich came into possession of an illuminated cipher manuscript once belonging to Emperor Rudolf II, who was obsessed with alchemy and the occult. Wartime codebreakers tried--and failed--to unlock the book's secrets, and it remains an enigma to this day. In this lively and entertaining book, Craig Bauer examines these and other vexing ciphers yet to be cracked. Some may reveal the identity of a spy or serial killer, provide the location of buried treasure, or expose a secret society--while others may be elaborate hoaxes. Unsolved! begins by explaining the basics of cryptology, and then explores the history behind an array of unsolved ciphers. It looks at ancient ciphers, ciphers created by artists and composers, ciphers left by killers and victims, Cold War ciphers, and many others.
Some are infamous, like the ciphers in the Zodiac letters, while others were created purely as intellectual challenges by figures such as Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman. Bauer lays out the evidence surrounding each cipher, describes the efforts of geniuses and eccentrics--in some cases both--to decipher it, and invites readers to try their hand at puzzles that have stymied so many others. Unsolved! takes readers from the ancient world to the digital age, providing an amazing tour of many of history's greatest unsolved ciphers.

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.

Preface ix Acknowledgments xi 1 A King's Quest 1 2 Ancient Ciphers 89 3 Dorabella 127 4 Zodiac 155 5 More Killer Ciphers 195 6 From the Victims 245 7 From Beyond the Grave? 316 8 A Challenge Cipher 347 9 More Challenge Ciphers 372 10 Long Ciphers 470 11 ET and RSA 495 Notes 531 References and Further Reading 557 Photo and Illustration Credits 599 Index 607

Erscheinungsdatum
Zusatzinfo 222 halftones. 8 line illus. 17 tables.
Verlagsort New Jersey
Sprache englisch
Maße 152 x 235 mm
Gewicht 992 g
Themenwelt Sachbuch/Ratgeber Natur / Technik
Informatik Theorie / Studium Kryptologie
ISBN-10 0-691-16767-2 / 0691167672
ISBN-13 978-0-691-16767-1 / 9780691167671
Zustand Neuware
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