Imitation Game: Man or Enigma?
Imitation Game: Man or Enigma? “Are you paying attention?” Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) says glaring down in a cold, gloomy police station interrogation room “You think you are in control of what will happen, […]
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Codebreaker: The Concert
Recently, it was reported on Twitter that Benedict had attended the world premiere of James McCarthy’s “Codebreaker” piece at the Barbican. Considering the piece was in honor of Alan Turing, and Benedict is playing the mathematician in The Imitation Game, his spot in the audience shouldn’t have come as a surprise (or at least it wasn’t […]
ENIGMA Chapter 4 – How Does the Machine Work? (Part 2)
After looking at the various elements of the Enigma machine in Chapter 4 Part 1, we will now go into a bit more detail on how the 26 letters are linked in 13 letter pairs through electrical circuits. Grasping this aspect will make it easier to understand the concept behind the Bombe, the codebreaking machine […]
ENIGMA Chapter 4 – How Does the Machine Work? (Part 1)
Elements of the Enigma Machine A simplified circuit diagram of an Enigma machine (Figure 1) with 4 of the 26 keys and indicator lamps shows the principle of how the various elements are connected to each other. If no key is pressed, there is no closed circuit, electricity cannot flow, and the lamps remain dark. […]
ENIGMA Chapter 3 – The Substitution Cipher
ENIGMA Chapter 1 – Historical Background ENIGMA Chapter 2 – The Invention of the Enigma Machine The Enigma machine is a polyalphabetic substitution cipher machine. This post will provide a little background information on the differences between monoalphabetic and polyalphabetic substitution ciphers and on the specific characteristics of cipher alphabets created by an Enigma machine. […]
ENIGMA Chapter 2 – The Invention of the Engima Machine
Chapter 1 – Historical Background Chapter 3 – The Substitution Cipher Introduction The breaking of the Enigma coding system was not a one-time event. The Polish Cipher Bureau (which first decoded Enigma messages in late 1932/early 1933), Bletchley Park in England, and codebreakers in other countries had to deal with different versions of the Enigma […]
Experience History: Visiting Bletchley Park
Benedict’s hotly anticipated film, The Imitation Game, centers on the life and achievements of British mathematician and war hero, Alan Turing. For those unfamiliar with Turing, he played a major role in helping to decode German intelligence during the Second World War. Building upon the pre-war work of Polish codebreakers, Turing devised techniques to break […]
ENIGMA Chapter 1 – Historical Background
CRYPTOLOGY IN WORLD WAR I Radio communication The invention of radio in the late 19th century had far-reaching consequences for military communication and cryptography. It enabled the exchange of messages with hitherto isolated locations (like ships at sea) and could be used to direct military campaigns. But it also made the need for secure encryption […]
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