"There are several people in my department who had been thinking of offering an introductory course in cryptology, they just hadn't found a suitable text. They have also been excited since I brought your book to their attention. It may even go beyond us offering a topics course occasionally -- all the way to offering a regular course! After working through your book I think that that's highly likely."

 

- Joel Iiams, University of North Dakota

 

"Lewand (Goucher College) introduces basic techniques and underlying mathematics of cryptology. The reader is provided with an overview of how to encrypt a message to send to another as well as being introduced to some basic techniques for deciphering coded messages. Cryptological techniques discussed range from the simple method of merely permuting the alphabet to a very accessible discussion of the RSA Public Key Encryption Code. Along the way, the reader is introduced to the mathematics underlying these coding theories, including elementary discussions of number theory, matrix algebra, combinatorics, and probability theory. The material is completely self-contained: any mathematics used in the various cryptology schemes is fully explained prior to its use, a feature that, together with the author’s informal writing style, would make this an ideal resource for a topics course in mathematics that assumes no prerequisite beyond general mathematical knowledge. Although certainly not an exhaustive treatise on the subject of cryptology, Lewand offers an accessible introduction that will certainly prompt some readers to further study of this topic. General readers; undergraduates."

-  D. S. Larson, Gonzaga University

[Lewand is] "clearly a dedicated teacher who knows how to engage students, and his book could be quite effective with many liberal arts students in rekindling their interest in mathematics."

- Neal Koblitz, University of Washington