The Mathematics of Secrets: Cryptography from Caesar Ciphers to Digital Encryption by Joshua Holden (PDF)

Description

Explaining the mathematics of cryptographyThe Mathematics of Secrets takes readers on a fascinating tour of the mathematics behind cryptography―the science of sending secret messages. Most books about cryptography are organized historically, or around how codes and ciphers have been used, such as in government and military intelligence or bank transactions. Joshua Holden instead shows how mathematical principles underpin the ways that different codes and ciphers operate. Holden focuses on both code making and code breaking and he discusses the majority of ancient and modern ciphers currently known.Holden begins by looking at substitution ciphers, built by substituting one letter or block of letters for another. Explaining one of the simplest and historically well-known ciphers, the Caesar cipher, Holden establishes the key mathematical idea behind the cipher and discusses how to introduce flexibility and additional notation. Holden goes on to explore polyalphabetic substitution ciphers, transposition ciphers, including one developed by the Spartans, connections between ciphers and computer encryption, stream ciphers, and ciphers involving exponentiation. He also examines public-key ciphers, where the methods used to encrypt messages are public knowledge, and yet, intended recipients are still the only ones who are able to read the message. He concludes with a look at the future of ciphers and where cryptography might be headed. Only basic mathematics up to high school algebra is needed to understand and enjoy the book.With a plethora of historical anecdotes and real-world examples, The Mathematics of Secrets reveals the mathematics working stealthily in the science of coded messages.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “A fascinating tour of the mathematics behind cryptography, showing how its principles underpin the ways that different codes and ciphers operate. . . . While it’s all about maths, [The Mathematics of Secrets] is accessible―basic high school algebra is all that’s needed to understand and enjoy it.” ― Cosmos Magazine”For anyone with an interest in cryptography.”—Noel-Ann Bradshaw, Times Higher Education”Any book on cryptography written for a more-or-less lay audience must inevitably face comparisons to The Code Book . . . by Simon Singh. . . . The Mathematics of Secrets is tilted (and indeed titled) more towards a fuller explanation of the mathematical techniques underlying the various ciphers. . . . [F]or anyone who wants to go a bit deeper than Simon Singh took them.”—Paul Taylor, Aperiodical”The best book I have seen on this subject and should be useful to students as well as enjoyable to casual readers.”—Phil Dyke, Leonardo Reviews”This is an extremely clearly, well-written book covering a lot of ground in the mathematics of cyphers.”—Jonathan Shock, Mathemafrica”This book engaging and very well written, explaining some rather difficult concepts and using innovative (and consistent) approaches to promote this understanding”—Edward Rochead, Mathematics Today Review “Suitable for anyone with a basic understanding of high school math, The Mathematics of Secrets presents the theoretical principles of cryptography, from Julius Caesar’s primitive cipher to the intricacies of the modern digital signature. This terrific book is a testament to the almost supernatural power of mathematics.”―Paul J. Nahin, author of In Praise of Simple Physics From the Back Cover “Suitable for anyone with a basic understanding of high school math, The Mathematics of Secrets presents the theoretical principles of cryptography, from Julius Caesar’s primitive cipher to the intricacies of the modern digital signature. This terrific book is a testament to the almost supernatural power of mathematics.”–Paul J. Nahin, author of In Praise of Simple Physics About the Author Joshua Holden is professor of mathematics at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I have read until know just the half of the book but I just wanted to say that. The writer has made the subject of cryptography very interesting, One thing that was a little annoying that in the end of the book. For every chapter he wrote some notes and it was annoying to go each time to the end of the book and read that but overall good book look forward for ending it!

⭐Not being a mathematician, but with a basic math background, I was looking for an introduction to the mathematics of cryptography. I needed that to better understand crypto. The author did a great job ! I was able to understand it almost completely and it gave me wonderful insights that I did not have before. It has lots of errata though, and you should check the author’s website for the corrections. Despite that I don’t want to give less than 5 stars.

⭐The book is described in a way that makes it sound on the level of other popular survey of history books.It really contains a lot of ‘meat’ and describes in detail how mathematical tools can be used–and is very clear in doing so.Top notch book. Colleges and public libraries should have this book.

⭐A good read. You either like math or…..Great to engage the mind!

⭐Interesting, but the book was hard to read and manipulate as an ebook.

⭐A gift so no personal opinion.

⭐Thanks, interesting book.

⭐2017 has produced an excellent book on cryptography. Clear, simple explanations of the concepts. A historical depth that builds an interesting storyline and some remarkable facts. I was amazed that non-carrying binary addition (XOR) was used in 1917. Many concepts are introduced in a historical context where technology was much simpler. Some people will still find the math a bit challenging. But this is a great introduction.

⭐Excellent book. Having to revise my modular maths beforehand though. Could have had an appendix with that in to make things easier.

⭐Il libro è veramente ben scritto. Acquistato per approfondire la materia, riesce a spiegare argomenti molto complessi in maniera molto semplice.Il testo segue il classico approccio americano più orientato alla esemplificazione della teoria tramite esempi pratici.Consiglio l’acquisto della versione cartacea.

⭐

⭐Good book. Bit plain. Needed it for study.

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