Craig P. Bauer, York College
Philadelphia Area Seminar on the History of Mathematics (PASHoM)
Friday, September 18, 2009, 3:00 am EDT
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Villanova University
Abstract: Over 30 colleges and universities offered cryptology courses during World War II. There was great diversity in who delivered the classes. Mathematicians were represented, as were the departments of astronomy, biology, classics, English, geology, Greek, philosophy, and psychology. Even a dean managed to make himself useful. Some classes were secret, run for the benefit of the military, while others were open to all. The lecture surveys these courses, along with biosketches of the professors and, in some cases, describes original research contributions they made to the field of cryptology.