What’s it all about?
There is something strangely satisfying about cracking a code: discovering a secret that someone else didn’t want you to know. Wars have been won, huge sums of money have been stolen, and secret romantic affairs have been revealed by code crackers.
The constant one-upmanship between the code makers and the code crackers has led to huge advancements in encryption techniques, and our modern computer-filled world relies heavily on them. Whole new fields of mathematics and computer science have been developed to deal with this new complexity. The resulting history of secret messages is fascinating, and has changed the course of world events.
What will we cover?
We will look at the history of cryptography and the related field of steganography (the practice of hiding a message) and then learn to use some simple ciphers. Amaze and annoy your friends by encrypting all your emails!
We will also briefly look at some aspects of modern cryptographic techniques.
Who will be teaching?
Michael Patterson graduated from the University of Melbourne with Mechanical Engineering and Science degrees. He is also a published composer, and has had works performed by the Melbourne, Adelaide and Queensland Symphony Orchestras. Also, he can juggle.