The Secret World of Codes and Code Breaking

Ever since the ancient Greeks, people have been using secret codes to keep their communications private. Claire Ellis, from the Enigma Project, will be unravelling some of these ciphers and explaining how mathematicians and scientists have managed to change the course of history by cracking codes. She will demonstrate a genuine WW2 Enigma Cipher machine and explain how the British code breakers at Bletchley Park managed to achieve the apparently impossible – unravel the infamous Enigma code. Warning: This talk will prove that mathematicians can be heroes too!

Ever since the ancient Greeks, people have been using secret codes to keep their communications private. Claire Ellis, from the Enigma Project, will be unravelling some of these ciphers and explaining how mathematicians and scientists have managed to change the course of history by cracking codes. She will demonstrate a genuine WW2 Enigma Cipher machine and explain how the British code breakers at Bletchley Park managed to achieve the apparently impossible – unravel the infamous Enigma code. Warning: This talk will prove that mathematicians can be heroes too!

Claire runs the Enigma Project, which is part of the Millennium Mathematics Project based at the University of Cambridge. The Enigma project aims to engage young people with maths, science and history through the codes and code breaking. Claire has a BSc in Human Genetics from Nottingham University and an MSc in Science Communication from Imperial College, London. She has worked as a teachers’ assistant and as a science museum 'explainer'. Most recently she was Education Manager at Bletchley Park before joining the MMP in October 2004.

Level: suggested age range 16+

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