While passing through London Kings Cross i had an annoying "wait" for my train, so I decided to put it to some good use. Withing walking distance of the station is the British Library so I decided to be a tourist and have a look. Inside the building there was a sign that said "The Turing Institute" - which although closed to the General Public had this interesting piece of history on display (see below, an Enigma Machine [or mock-up]):
Another interesting feature is that in the British Library (more museum if you ask me) it is very hard to get your hands on a book (unless you buy it) as you need to register for a "Readers Pass" and then I believe they go get it for you. No browsing. So I just used their free WiFi and had an expensive London coffee and bought a book but more of that later ;)
With the role Enigma played in WW2, many have forgotten that the original Enigma cryptography machine was simply a commercial product sold to businesses before ww2. The military versions developed afterwards were of course more complicated and harder to decipher, but in essence, it was civilian technology.
ReplyDeleteGood point
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil