Abstract
Cryptology furnishes an ideal example of the synergy between mathematics and technology. This is illustrated by events before, during, and after World War II: manual methods of encryption were replaced by faster and more secure methods of machine encryption; these methods were then attacked during the war by mathematicians using a combination of mathematics and machines; and after the war machine encryption was in turn eventually supplanted by computers and computer-based encryption algorithms. Random number generation illustrates one aspect of this: physical randomization has been completely replaced by the use of pseudo-random number generators. A particularly striking example of the impact of mathematics on cryptography is the development of public key encryption.
Tracing developments in cryptology can pose interesting challenges for the historian because of a desire for secrecy, but it is occasionally possible to see behind the veil; the last section of this chapter discusses some interesting instances of this.
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Zabell, S. (2018). Cryptology, Mathematics, and Technology. In: Hansson, S. (eds) Technology and Mathematics. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 30. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93779-3_7
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