Modern Marvels

Codes (8x15)

Air date: May 21, 2001

Whenever a culture reaches a level of sophistication in literacy, science, and language, codes spring up spontaneously. As the social life of a community increases in complexity, the demands for private communication between two or more people inevitably lead to cryptology--a system of secret symbolic messages. Explore the rich history of communicating with secret symbols--from Egyptian hieroglyphics to Caesar's encrypted directives, from WWI and WWII codebreakers to cyberspace.