Jefferson disk cipher

cults3d

To fully grasp the incredible device, visit the Wikipedia page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_disk and I'll attempt to explain it here in detail. Thomas Jefferson is renowned for being the author of the Declaration of Independence, a founding father, and a politician. Interestingly, he was also an inventor and mathematician. A recent trip to the National Cryptologic Museum sparked my interest in this device. The museum, located next to the NSA headquarters buildings, showcases the history of cryptography and encryption from the Revolutionary War era to around the Cold War period. The exhibit that caught my attention was about this device during the Revolutionary and Civil War periods. What fascinates me about this device is its simplicity, yet deciphering it appears to be a nearly impossible task. Here's how it works: you align the disks so that they display one line of the message you want to convey. Then, insert the rod through the holes to prevent the wheels from rotating independently. Rotate all the disks to a different line and record the message displayed on a piece of paper. When the recipient receives the message, they'll turn the disks to display the original message on the page and rotate all the disks to where the message is located. The ingenuity behind this device becomes apparent when compared to other simple ciphers introduced before it. For instance, if you write a simple cipher where each letter is represented by another letter or symbol, it's easy to crack by identifying words like 'a,' 'all,' or 'I.' If you find a word in the message that says 'WMM' and you suspect it's 'all,' you can replace all 'w's with 'a's and all 'm's with 'l's, making it easier to decode. **The image is of an earlier version, which is why it only has eight disks. I haven't had a chance to print it yet, but I'll post it when I do.