It took only a year or two for a pair of computer and math geeks to discover modern encryption technology in the 1970s. But it's taken three decades for the full story to be told. Transforming what is an unavoidably nerdy . . .
It took only a year or two for a pair of computer and math geeks to discover modern encryption technology in the 1970s. But it's taken three decades for the full story to be told. Transforming what is an unavoidably nerdy tale into the stuff of passion and politics is not a trivial business, but Steven Levy, the author of Crypto, proves himself more than up to the task.

Levy, a Newsweek writer and author of well-received technology histories such as Hackers and Insanely Great, begins his book in 1969 with a profile of Whit Diffie, the tortured, quirky co-discoverer of public key cryptography. Other characters soon populate the stage: The MIT mathematicians eager to sign documents digitally; Jim Bidzos, the Greek-born dealmaker who led RSA Data Security from ruin to success; and Phil Zimmermann, the peace-activist-turned-programmer who gave the world Pretty Good Privacy.

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