REF ID:A63574 

Contract Wo. Dl lB·ll9•sc-109 

26T -ta-58 (11.r. WUU• P • Prteckan) 

'1'IO 6 Jul1' 58 

J . ., ~ Catn/ltO'J7/dD 

ca. 1 ~ 1958, ., . Willi• r. Friec'bri8n aeuvered Proare•• ·~ 'lo. l to the 

m.rector ot Trainiag aa prorl~ 1D ~b (1) b, Article Y, contract lo .. 'Dl l.B1l.9·•c•l09· IJ.'bi• report meets the technical. requirement• ~ the ortica of 'l'raS.ntng. 

l!\pproved for Release by NSA on 11-18-2013 pursuantto E.O. 13s2e 

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WILLIAM F. FRIEDMAN 

310 SECOND ST., SE 

Director 

National. Security .Agency 

Fort George G. Meade, Meryla.n.d 

Attention: Director of Training 

Sir: 

WASHINGTON 3, D. o. 

l. JuJ.y 1958 

Reference is made to Contract No. DAJ.8-J.J.9-sc-J.~9, 267-LYN-58, 

entered into as of l. May 1958 by and between the United States of 

America and. the undersigned. In accordance with provisions of Articl.e I, 

pa.rs.graph d, of said contract, I submit herewith, in Inclosure l, the 

first of the six bi-monthly Progress Reports outlining progress of the 

work on the items called for by said contract. 

Incl.: 

a/s 

Very truly yours, 
.. . . .. • REF ID:A63574e 

1July1958 

1. Progress on Project 1 of .Article I, Pera.graph a.(l) of the contract. 

a.. The item called for under this :project is a manuscript of the 

teix:t for a. series of six (6) lessons containing unclassified d~ta designed 

for the technical orientation of new NSA employees. However, after 

discussion with various high-level employees of NSA, it appears that the 

ma.teria.J. and information to be included in this manuscript could also well 

be used with benefit, as collateral reading, by many NSA employees who, 

although now :properly regarded as skilled specialists in their respective 

fields by virtue of their several or many yea.rs' :practical experience, 

have never had the time or opportunity to glean by diligent research 

something about the history of the invention and development of cryptology. 

For it is a fact worth mentioning in this connection--but it is not a 

strange one--that there is in existence no adequate and authentic history 

of cryptology in any language. Such history as can be found scattered 

here and there in cryptologic literature isusual.ly in foreign languages, 

is scanty, often erroneous, and gives evidence of having been :prepared 

either by amateurs or by "literary hacks". That is why learning something 

about the history of cryptology is, for the beginner or even tbe experienced 

:professional. cryptologist, a job not many have the time or the willingness 

to undertake. Therefore, the manuscript of this text will not address 

itself strictly or only to beginners in the cryptological :profession or 

practice of cryptology; it will be designed to be usef'ul as well to the 

INCLOSURE I 
REF ID:A63574 --

advanced students and skilled tecbnicia.ns mentioned above. Even when 

completed, however, the :manuscript called for under Project l will 

constitute merely a broad outline of the history of cryptology; a 

definitive history will require much more space and time than is contem;plated under the present project. Moreover, much research would be 

necessary to turn up the undoubtedly large number of cryptologic secrets 

which still remain hidden in the great libraries of Europe or have been 

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so carefUlly buried, for security reasons, in the archives of the important 

governments of the world. A definitive history of this sort deserves, but 

will have to await, the attention of the slow, methodical e.nd discerning 

scholarship of some future professiona1 cryptologist who may be fascinated 

by the history and development of the science and art which lies at the founda.tion of his :profession and may find the time and opportunity to embark 

upon the laborious but interesting job that would be involved. 

b. For the purposes of Project l as broadly outlined above, a large 

&m.ount of material has already been collected by the Contractor. The 

thousands of items contained therein are being carefulJ.y scrutinized and 

sorted. Attempt is being made to separate fa.ct from fiction and where 

possible, evidence from one source is being weighed against evidence from 

other sources. But for the most part cryptologic incidents or events of 

cryptologic, diploma.tic, naval, or military importance to be :presented 

under Project l (except for those 'Which happened long before he lived) will 

be such as have been experienced, witnessed, or lived through by the 

Contractor during his long :professional life as a cryptologist. This 

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REF ID:A63574 

separation of fact from fiction may be exemplified in the sort of r~sea.rch 

which wouJ.d be or is involved in trying to f'ind answers to such an 

interesting question as this: Who or what cryptoJ.ogic agency reaJ.J.y discovered and applied the princip1es underlying the use of polyalpha.betic 

cipher systems? Who or what agency really discovered and applied the 

principles underlying the solution of such systems'? When was transposition 

first used'l Who was first to combine substitution and transposition? Then 

there are rns.nr minor but aJ.so interesting questions such as these: Wba.t 

was the nature of' the writing which an unseen hand inscribed on the wall of 

Belshazzar's banquet hall while that monarch was f'easting'l Why could not 

the Chaldean wise men and Babylonian soothsayers read it? Was it a cryptogram? How did Daniel solve the message it contained'l Why does the Bible 

make the text of the writing in the first statement of it read "MENE, MEN.E, 

TEKEL, UPHARSIM" and in its second statement of it read 11MENE,, MENE, TEKEL, 

PERFS"'? Are the two words 11UPHARSIM11 and "PERES" variants in the sense of 

that word as used in cryptologic terminology, or in the sense of that word 

when we ref'er to 11 synon:yms'l 11 Of course, questions of' 1his sort are not of 

any practical importance in modern cryptology; but to the professional 

cryptologist who delights in delving into the past and in musing along the 

byways as well as the highways of his science,, questions such as these a.re 

not merely of academic or sim;ply passing interest. They are of absorbing 

interest--or shouJ.d be. 

c. Again,, take these questions: Which came f'irst--"pla.in-text•t 

writing,, or "secret" writing'l Should the cryptologist concern himself at 

all with the history and development of the alpha.bet? Or of writing of a:n.y 

kind, such as ideogral,)hic, pictographic and the like? What interest does 

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REF ID:A63574 

signa.J.J.ing in general. and secret signalling in :particular have for the 

cryptologist? Should he concern himself only with cr:y;ptogra;phy, i.e., 

secret writing; or, if he considers the many different modes of transmitting thoughts and information of various sorts, should he look into 

aJ..1 forms of communication and, more specificaJ..J.y, secret communication--

even those long ago outmoded 'l To review outmoded idEBS and take a new 

look at them in the light of new techniques and of means not dreamt of 

when those ideas were first generated is frequently a not unprofitable 

procedure. Modern information theory e.nd modern electronic digital 

computers, for example, make use of a 11biliteral a.lphabet 11 first proposed, 

invented, or described by Francis Bacon. When put in this way it becomes 

clear that the professional. cryptologist mu.st or should concern himself 

with the old things as well as the new ones, and with !fh forms of secret 

communication, and not merel.y with secret writing, for are not ciphony 

and cifax currently in use and do they not now present problems of great 

interest and complexity? They a.re, strictly speaking, not forms of 

secret writing or cryptography. And then there is civision--and possibly 

tele:pa.thic communication--should these be included in the sphere of 

cognizance of the profession.al cryptologist7 

d. It will seem, therefore, that even the gathering of the raw 

material for Project 1 involves a lengthy, painstaking and absorbing 

process. The sifting and digesting of the bits and pieces and their I 

assimilation and condensation to make a well-rounded and interesting 

introduction to the cryptologic historical orientation of the professiona.1 

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and would-be professiona1 cryptologist represents an interesting and 

worthwhile problem. A good start has been made on this part of the 

Contra.ct by this time. In the Contractor's personal collection of items 

of cryptologic interest a.re thousands of bits and pieces, including books, 

periodicals, articles in scientific and popular journaJ.s, newspapers--

and even cartoons and 1tcomics 11 in which cryptograms play a role and which 

should not be discarded as childish, for they serve as mirrors reflecting 

the average person's absorption or interest in the subject of cryptography 

even today. There are, too, thousands of photographs, reproductions in 

the form of photostats, photocopies and the like, to be examined for points 

of cryptologic interest, to enliven the text and what is to come after it--

the recorded lectures. In short, there is no paucity of authentic, semiauthentic, and downr:ight erroneous material to be studied; there is indeed 

a plethora, so that perhaps the problem will be to decide what to omit, 

or "treat sketchily, rather than what to include or to treat in detail. For 

instance, a single episode of great importance in the history of cryptology, 

diplomacy and warfa.re--that involving the famous "Zimmermann Telegram" of 

World War I--well deserves lengthy treatment and a. text all by itself, 

with two or three full-period lectures to accompany it. There a.re similar 

fateful cryptologic episodes of World War II awaiting similar detailed 

treatment because they a.re of absorbing interest and of great tecbnologic 

value to the cryptologist. 

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2. Progress on Projects 2, 3, and 4 of Article I, para.graphs (a)(2), (a.)(3), 

and (a) (4) of the contract. 

a. The contractor has already amassed a large file of photographic 

negatives and prints from which selections will be ma.de to accom:pa.ny the 

manuscript called for under Project 1, and which will serve as illustrative 

material for the data contained in the :manuscript of Project 1. But many 

more photographs remain to be produced from ma.teriaJ. of more recent vintage, 

say from the period 1940 or thereabouts to the present date. Much of the 

basic raw material to be photographed has already been assembled; the portions 

to be photographed a.re still to be sought out and delineated for photographic 

processing. 

b. For Project 3, the set of lantern slides for use in connection with a. 

series of six lectures which shall be based upon and c-oordina.ted with the 

material called for under Project 1, the Contractor has already assembled a 

l.a.t'ge collection of slides f'rom which selections a.re to be ma.de. But more 

slides will be necessary, depending upon what material is finally selected 

for Project 2. 

c. Finally, on Project 4, the preparation of a voice recording of the 

material contained in the six lectures to be prepared for use in connection 

with the materials called for under Projects 1, 2, and 3, nothing has yet 

been done in the way of actual recording, of course; but a rough outline of 

text to be recorded, ma.de in the form of notes on cards is well under way. 

From these cards a manuscript will be prepared, and then, in preparation for 

final recording, there will have to be some practice recording for primary 

editing and revision. 

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3. The Contractor believes that one-sixth of the work to be done under 

this contract wi11 have been completed by the date C1f the submission of 

this report. There has been an interruption in work which was occasioned 

by the Contractor's having undertaken, in his capacity as a consu1ta..?J.t to 

NSA, a special mission in behalf' of the Director, NSA, and which necessitated 

making a couple of trips overseas a.f'ter the contract was initiated. A 

further interruption of about one month will be occasioned by the 

Contractor's acceptance of an urgent invitation to attend the first month's 

session of the SC.AMP program at the University of California in Los Angeles, 

to deliver some lectures thereat during that month, and to participate in 

other SCAMP activities. 

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