Re: student wanting to learn about cryptography...

From: Douglas A. Gwyn (DAGwyn_at_null.net)
Date: 07/30/03 

Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2003 21:57:21 -0400

Alex Truman wrote:
> Hi, I'm a college student interested in learning cryptography. How
> would you reccommend I begin? Is there a book out there you'd
> reccommend or something? I know what a prime number is and I know a
> few substitution & transposition coding schemes, but that's as far as
> my knowledge goes. I pretty much need to start at the very beginning.

The sci.crypt FAQ gives recommendations. I suggest you read
the *unabidged, hardbound* edition of David Kahn's "The
Codebreakers", which provides a good overview of cryptology
and cryptanalytic methods up to about the 1930s. Then you
can read more recent books to see what the open community
has been working on. Without knowing the purpose of your
study it's hard to be more precise.

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