Fwd: wanna play with a real Enigma machine...

[R.A. Hettinga]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Fearghas McKay <fm at st-kilda.org>
> Date: December 3, 2009 4:52:48 PM GMT-04:00
> To: <many people, rah>
> Cc: Fearghas McKay <fm at st-kilda.org>
> Subject: wanna play with a real Enigma machine...
>
> wanna play with a real Enigma machine...
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Paul Rattray <paul.rattray at inbox.com>
> Date: 3 December 2009 13:09:48 GMT
> To: bcs-edin at macs.hw.ac.uk
> Subject: [BCS-Edin] BCS Edinburgh Branch Meeting - The Codebreakers  
> - Enigma, Bletchley Park and the Battle of the Atlantic
> Reply-To: paul.rattray at bcs.org
>
> The Codebreakers - Enigma, Bletchley Park and the Battle of the  
> Atlantic
> Wednesday 9th December 2009, 6:30 pm.
>
> Speaker: Dr. Mark Baldwin.
>
> University of Edinburgh Informatics Forum, 10 Crichton Street,  
> Edinburgh, EH8 9AB - map (click on Informatics Forum in the list of  
> buildings).
>
> This talk is free of charge. Refreshments available from 6:00 pm.
>
> Synopsis
> One of the Second World War's most fascinating stories is that of  
> the Enigma machine, a portable encryption device widely used by the  
> Germans, whose ciphers they believed to be totally secure.  
> Nevertheless, by mathematical analysis and modern technology (and a  
> certain amount of good luck), the Allies devised techniques for  
> 'breaking' Enigma ciphers, and thus read several million German  
> messages, providing a wealth of reliable Intelligence. The attack on  
> Enigma, initiated by the Poles in the 1930s, was later perfected by  
> the British at Bletchley Park, today open to the public as a museum  
> site.
>
> The Intelligence gained was of immense value to the Allies in  
> virtually every theatre of war, but nowhere more so than in the  
> Battle of the Atlantic, that fierce conflict which lasted nearly six  
> years and cost over 60,000 lives. Dr Baldwin uses the Battle of the  
> Atlantic to exemplify the importance of codebreaking in winning the  
> war.
>
> After the presentation, the audience are invited to take part in a  
> hands-on practical demonstration of one of the few surviving Enigma  
> machines. Only about 200 are known to survive worldwide; of these,  
> only about a dozen are in public collections in Britain. As these  
> machines are so rare, Dr Baldwin is providing a unusual opportunity  
> for the audience not just to view, but also to operate, an original  
> 4-rotor Enigma machine (i.e. the more sophisticated model, developed  
> for the U-Boat service in 1942). This is of particular interest, as  
> there is no working machine on permanent public display anywhere in  
> England north of Bletchley Park, and nowhere at all in Wales,  
> Scotland or Ireland.
>
>
>
> Paul
>
> ---
> Paul Rattray MBCS CITP
> Chair, BCS Edinburgh Branch
> paul.rattray at bcs.org
> edinburgh..bcs.org
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> FREE 3D EARTH SCREENSAVER - Watch the Earth right on your desktop!
> Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/earth
>
> _______________________________________________
> BCS-Edin mailing list
> BCS-Edin at macs.hw.ac.uk
> http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo.cgi/bcs-edin
>
>
> -- 
> Heriot-Watt University is a Scottish charity
> registered under charity number SC000278.