What was the Cipher Challenge at the end of The Code Book?

Singh included ten encrypted messages of increasing difficulty and offered a £10,000 prize to the first person or team to crack them all. The challenge, launched with the book's September 1999 publication, was solved on 7 October 2000 by a five-person Swedish team (Fredrik Almgren, Gunnar Andersson, Torbjörn Granlund, Lars Ivansson and Staffan Ulfberg), who built their own number field sieve software to break the final stages.

The Code Book

The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

Narrative non-fiction History Mathematics

Pages: 432
Published: 1999
Language: English

This book offers a comprehensive history of encryption, detailing its evolution and profound impact on wars, nations, and individual lives. From historical figures like Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II, it explores the most powerful intellectual weapon: secrecy. The text includes clear technical explanations and profiles of the remarkable individuals who created and deciphered the world's most challenging codes.

Prose complexity: 7/10

Informative Intellectual Thought-Provoking

Simon Singh

Simon Lehna Singh, MBE is a British popular science author, theoretical and particle physicist. --Wikipedia

Frequently asked questions

What was the Cipher Challenge at the end of The Code Book?
Singh included ten encrypted messages of increasing difficulty and offered a £10,000 prize to the first person or team to crack them all. The challenge, launched with the book's September 1999 publication, was solved on 7 October 2000 by a five-person Swedish team (Fredrik Almgren, Gunnar Andersson, Torbjörn Granlund, Lars Ivansson and Staffan Ulfberg), who built their own number field sieve software to break the final stages.