mendax.org

Leonardo Da Vinci was a fascinating fellow, considering not only his vast number of artistic works, but his scientific works as well. A new book, however, suggests that Da Vinci discovered private key cryptography akin to the cryptographic measures we take today. The difference, of course, is that his form of encryption was based around person-to-person messages instead of messages broadcast digitally. Either way, it suggests that Da Vinci was well ahead of his time, particularly considering that some of his encrypted works remain unhacked.

The book, written by Dan Brown and titled The Da Vinci Code is a fictitious account of cracking Da Vinci’s works, though the author submits that the detail about Da Vinci’s works are absolutely true, and real-life examples are used throughout the book, including the encryption used in the Cathedral of Codes, still unbreakable by modern cryptographers.

I’ll have to add this book to my list of “to be read” novels, especially since I haven’t heard word of a Cryptonomicon sequel yet. Of course, there’s always the real thing.

Popularity: 1% [?]