[1938] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Recommended coursework for budding cryptologist?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perry E. Metzger)
Wed Dec 10 23:07:50 1997
To: John Brothers <johnbr@undefined.com>
cc: cryptography@c2.net
In-reply-to: Your message of "Tue, 09 Dec 1997 19:13:15 EST."
<1.5.4.32.19971210001315.0073f604@pop.mindspring.com>
Reply-To: perry@piermont.com
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 11:00:48 -0500
From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
John Brothers writes:
> My wife ( a math major ) has decided that cryptography as a field of study
[...]
> She has a strong overall math background - are there any math
> courses other than Numerical Analysis that would provide her with a
> stronger foundation for further study of crypto?
Numerical analysis is probably of no use, actually.
Number theory is an important foundation. Much of modern cryptography
depends on it. A strong background in statistics and probability is
very important for understanding modern cryptanalysis
methods. Computability theory and analysis of algorithms are important
in understanding issues like the time complexity of various algorithms
and in proving the properties of various crypto schemes.
In general, you should probably hand your wife a copy of Schneier and
tell her to start exploring. She'll probably be able to figure out
pretty quickly what sort of things are important.
Perry
