Though 90 percent of the book is filled with numbers and tables, it sold more than 1,000 copies and has been the best seller among more than 100 books on contemporary mathematics published by the American Mathematical Association. The book was updated in 1988, and Wagstaff is working to update a third edition, which will be available in one or two years. Until recently, no one knew any factors for the number, Wagstaff says. With a minimum of 80 digits, even the factors can be unwieldy. Wagstaff says the co-authors are scrambling to find a new format for the third edition of their book so that the factors can fit onto a single line of text.
Cryptography is the art of writing or deciphering messages in code.
He notes that one way cryptographers can create unbreakable codes is by multiplying two large numbers, such as 100 digits each, to get a number that is too large to factorize easily. Another way to develop codes is to use factorizations to develop secret keys to a code. Large numbers with two prime factors are ideal for developing such codes. The RSA code is used in electronic cash transactions and to sign contracts by electronic mail. It also can be used to send the key for another cipher or to authenticate a message.