The Science of Secrecy

Examining the case of Mary Queen of Scots. A cipher in her correspondence resulted in a charge of treason in 1586 for plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I.

The race to decipher the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt at the dawn of the 19th century.

Profiling mid-19th-century inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage, who was challenged to crack a particularly resilient code---the Vigenere cipher, which had been unbreakable for 300 years.

The history of codes is examined. Included: the cracking of an encoded telegram from the German foreign minister to the president of Mexico during World War I.

Examining public-key cryptography, which was further developed into a cipher known as RSA.