Colossus and Code Breaking in World War II
Channel: Churchill CompSci Talks
Date: 2016-02-19

Colossus and Code Breaking in World War II, by Ben Ramchandani.

Abstract: The actions of the men and women at Bletchley park during the second world war saved thousands of lives. Those same people also produced some incredible mathematical and engineering achievements that went unseen for 30 years.

Most people have heard of the Enigma machine, but far fewer of the Lorenz. The Lorenz machine was used by the German High Command for communicating its strategic plans. In this talk I shall focus on how this cipher was broken and the machines made to aid in that cause, including Colossus, the world’s first programmable electronic computer.