The Cryptoclub: Using Mathematics to Make and Break Secret Codes
One of the holy grails of education is making math fun, without reducing its rigor. Many people attempt this task, but few succeed. I believe that Janet Beissinger and Vera Pless are among the rare success stories with their book … it is a fabulous supplement to more traditional curriculums. Pattern recognition, probability, prime numbers, exponents, modular arithmetic, factoring, organizing data, and inverses are among the topics that the book explores in a meaningful and interesting way. Even more important, it gives young (or maybe not so young!) students an opportunity to practice rigorous critical thinking in a meaningful context. Code cracking is a great example of open-ended problems that require tenacity, organization, and creative thinking to solve.—Jessie Mathisen, Articles for Reading, November 2009Students Tackle Cryptography—University of Illinois at Chicago professors craft program to show middle schoolers that problem solving is fun.—The Chicago Tribune, July 2009The Cryptoclubis very clearly written and illustrated, in full color, and clearly laid out. I truly enjoyedThe Cryptoclub. It is SO interesting! How could you lay a book down when there is a secret message to unravel!… This book is perfect for motivating teenagers’ interest in math. It lets them study something fascinating outside the main curriculum — cryptography — which is at the same time a highly useful application of math.—Homeschool Math, October 2007The Cryptoclubis more than just a math book: a story line is woven around each type of code, making it more interesting for students. This book could serve as a resource for enrichment or gifted programs [and] could easily be incorporated into a cross-curricular thematic unit.—Judith Casey, NCTM, August 2007A fine book that introduces middle school pupils to coding … Despite its challenging mathematical content, there is nothing dry about this book. All the techniques employed for modern children’s books are used here to good effect: a story line to connect the topics, with coloured illustrations, boxes to set of examples and exercises, as well as a number of historical anecdotes set on special pages.—CMS Notes, March 2007Mathematical material is brought to life with fictionalized stories about a group of ‘Cryptokids’ as well as true stories from the history of cryptography.—Book News, December 2006The Cryptoclubpresents a number of different systems of encryption and methods of breaking them … Each type of cipher is presented in detail and exercises are included, allowing students to apply the techniques presented.The Cryptoclubalso includes short descriptions of famous examples of secret codes, including the Beale Ciphers, the Zimmerman telegram, and the German Enigma cipher.The Cryptoclubis intended for middle-school students, and could be used for classroom teaching or as a supplemental or recreational book for students interested in cryptography. However, the potential appeal is much broader: the simplest ciphers could be solved by a child in grade school, and much ofThe Cryptoclubcan be enjoyed by adults as well.—Sarah Boslaugh,MAA Reviews, October 2006Listen to a video review of the book at http://www.republicofmath.com/cryptoclub-review