Mathematics at Work — A Perspective on the Development of Cryptography over the Last Twenty-Five Years

Abstract

The Institute's 1999 Thomson Lecture — held on 29 September at Glaziers Hall in London — provided an intriguing insight into a subject that is both established and rapidly developing. It is an example of leading-edge technology, and yet its roots are soundly based in the world of mathematics and its application. An old dog teaching us new tricks, one might say. The speaker was Professor Henry J Beker. And if his face seems familiar to some readers, that might be because his photograph appeared in The Daily Telegraph the following day with news concerning Baltimore Technologies' expansion into the USA.