Cryptography: The Science of Secret Writing

by Laurence Dwight Smith

"Those who delight in puzzles can find much to ponder on here," declared Science News Letter of this excellent introduction to cryptography. Concise and simple explanations cover transposition and substitution ciphers, codes, and their solutions. More than 150 problems provide practical applications as well as tests of ingenuity.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Mathematics

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

Reviews

[Mark]

Very simple but a nice primer for Cryptography enthusiasts

[JoAnn Brown]

Brief overview of cryptography interspersed with historical tidbits. Good step-by-step instructions and explanations for encrypting, analyzing, and decrypting. Includes problems, solutions, and a short glossary.

[Martin]

An adequate introduction to pre-computer cryptography. It offers a little more history than some other, similar books, and quite a bit of practice material.

[Dan Seitz]

A good overview of the basics, especially for the curious.

[M. W.]

This is a great starter book for the amateur cryptologist. It gives a basic overview of system analysis and simple substitution systems.

[Phil]

Fairly basic introduction but well written with a sly sense of humour - good to remind yourself about Vigenere tables, Playfair ciphers etc.

[katie]

I liked the puzzles at the end.

[David]

A good book, considering when it was originally written.