“Hildegard von Bingen, an 11th-century nun who saw apocalyptic visions and was later canonized, had a cipher alphabet which she claimed came to her in a flash of inspiration.” — David Kahn Copy Share Image
“The more a cipher deviates from the simple form in which one ciphertext letter invariably replaces the same plaintext letter, the harder it is to break.” — David Kahn Copy Share Image
“Hildegard von Bingen, an 11th-century nun who saw apocalyptic visions and was later canonized, had a cipher alphabet which she claimed came to her… — David Kahn Copy Share
“the most famous of all those who had an acquaintance with cryptology in the Middle Ages was an English customs official, amateur astronomer, and… — David Kahn Copy Share
“The task of the cryptanalysts consisted primarily of reconstructing the wiring and switches of the coding wheels—a task made more burdensome by the daily… — David Kahn Copy Share
“Analyzing the frequency and contacts of letters is the most universal, most basic of cryptanalytic procedures.” — David Kahn Copy Share
“General Joseph O. Mauborgne, who became Chief Signal Officer in October, 1937. Mauborgne had long been interested in cryptology. In 1914, as a young… — David Kahn Copy Share
“The only writer of the Middle Ages to describe cryptography instead of just using it was Roger Bacon, the English monk of startlingly modern… — David Kahn Copy Share
“Cryptology served magical purposes frequently throughout the Middle Ages, and even in the Renaissance was still disguising important parts of alchemical formulas.” — David Kahn Copy Share
“The technique was at least moderately well known, for Ibn Khaldūn wrote in The Muqaddimah: “Occasionally, skillful secretaries, though not the first to invent… — David Kahn Copy Share
“Cryptology was born among the Arabs. They were the first to discover and write down the methods of cryptanalysis. The people that exploded out… — David Kahn Copy Share
“Another steganographic system was still in use in the 20th century: Aeneas suggested pricking holes in a book or other document above or below… — David Kahn Copy Share
“Also of great importance in the discovery of linguistic phenomena that led to cryptanalysis was the development of lexicography.” — David Kahn Copy Share
“The world owes its first instructional text on communications security to the Greeks. It appeared as an entire chapter in one of the earliest… — David Kahn Copy Share
“His method resembles George Bernard Shaw’s way of using the /f/ sound of GH in “tough,” the /i/ sound of o in “women,” and… — David Kahn Copy Share
“Much of the history of cryptology of this time is a patchwork, a crazy quilt of unrelated items, sprouting, flourishing, withering. Only toward the… — David Kahn Copy Share
