Cryptological Mathematics

by Robert Edward Lewand

This is an introduction to the mathematics involved in the intriguing field of cryptology, the science of writing and reading secret messages which are designed to be read only by their intended recipients. It is written at an elementary level, suitable for beginning undergraduates, with careful explanations of all the concepts used. The basic branches of mathematics required, including number theory, abstract algebra and probability, are used to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0883857197
• ISBN13: 9780883857199
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
• Length: 211 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.1" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Cryptological Mathematics

Book was in excellent condition, and arrived just a matter of days after I placed my order. I would definite suggest and will order from them again.

Wonderful book

I *loved* this book. It covers the essential number theory required to understand various encryption schemes, and while it is a thin book, it doesn't omit any steps between various mathematical steps (" ... and then magic happens ..."). You end up with the satisfying feeling of being able to derive the proof for RSA, starting from high-school math. Highly recommended.

Some math is just plain fun and this is one such area

I cannot speak for the female side of the human race, but when I was young all the boys wanted to be a spy. We formed clubs and pretended to be secret agents. It was such great fun to create and use the codes to encrypt, pass and decode our important messages. Reading this book took me back to those days, not only reminding me of the good times we had but also how serious encryption is. This book was a good deal of fun to read, but underlying the fun there is an air of extreme seriousness. It is not an exaggeration to say that secure encryption is the key to the efficient functioning of the global economy. Billions of dollars are electronically moved every day and without the security of unbreakable encryption, it would all be too unreliable to use. If the current codes were proven to be breakable, it would be a catastrophe, probably the only threat to the world economy that does not involve a major natural disaster. The mathematics of encryption are surprisingly easy to understand. Starting with the simple substitution ciphers and moving through the more complex polyalphabetic and polygraphic substitutions, the techniques to create and break them are described. For most of the codes, the most complex mathematics needed to understand them is a basic understanding of matrices and how they are added and multiplied. It is only in the last chapter of public key cryptography where some advanced mathematics of number theory are used. Each chapter ends with a set of problems and solutions to the even ones are given in an appendix. This would be an excellent textbook for a course in applied mathematics. There is an inherent fascinating quality to the subject matter and the tales of encryption are very well done. I strongly recommend that you read it. Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.