The Science of Secrecy

Name: The Science of Secrecy
Released: 2000-10-01T00:00:00.000Z

TV Show · Documentary

Codebreakers: The Science of Secrecy brings to life the hidden history of codes and code breaking. Since the birth of writing, there has also been the need for secrecy. The story of codes is the story of the intellects who used mathematics, linguistics, machines, gut instinct, logic and detective work to encrypt and break these secrect messages and the effect their work has had on history.

2000 · 24m

The Babington Plot

Episode one examines the case of Mary Queen of the Scots. A curious cipher in her correspondences resulted in a charge of treason in 1586 for plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I.
Hieroglyphs

Episode two dives into the race to decipher the incredible and beautiful hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt, discovered at the dawn of the 19th century.
The Zimmermann Telegram

The history of codes is examined. Included: the cracking of an encoded telegram from the German foreign minister to the president of Mexico during World War I.
Le Chiffre Indechiffabrle: the Uncrackable Code

Profiling mid-19th-century inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage, who was challenged to crack a particularly resilient code---the Vigenere cipher, which had been unbreakable for 300 years.
Going Public

Examining public-key cryptography, which was further developed into a cipher known as RSA.