My talk at OMSI last night, “Computers and the Dawn of Modern Cryptography,” went really well. It was a great crowd and there was a good Q&A session afterwards. I’m going to keep this post really brief. First, there will be slides for my talk. Following that will be a brief bibliography if you’re interested in learning more about this fascinating topic.

Click here to download my slides.

Bibliography

  • Singh, Simon. The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography. Reprint edition. New York: Anchor, 2000. This book is the best resource I've found for a logical breakdown of how cryptography and cryptanalysis worked for WWII cryptology.
  • Boone, J. V. A Brief History of Cryptology. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 2005.
  • Copeland, B. Jack, ed. Colossus: The Secrets of Bletchley Park’s Codebreaking Computers. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. I can't wait to explore this book more! It is a massive collection of articles and papers from a wide array of authors.
  • Drea, Edward J. MacArthur’s ULTRA: Codebreaking and the War against Japan, 1942-1945. Modern War Studies. Lawrence, Kan: University Press of Kansas, 1992.
  • Wilcox, Jennifer, United States, National Security Agency/Central Security Service, and Center for Cryptologic History. Sharing the Burden: Women in Cryptology during World War II. Fort George G. Meade, Md.: Center for Cryptologic History, National Security Agency, 1998.

In addition, almost all of the photos and information on individual cipher machines can be found at Crypto Museum. This is a rich and bountiful resource for those interested in the internal workings of modern encryption.