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Episode 18 – The Dancing Men
Archived series ("Inactive feed" status)
When? This feed was archived on August 01, 2022 19:03 (). Last successful fetch was on August 12, 2021 19:05 ()
Why? Inactive feed status. Our servers were unable to retrieve a valid podcast feed for a sustained period.
What now? You might be able to find a more up-to-date version using the search function. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.
Manage episode 222710370 series 1932333
by Leah Strickland
The 1903 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story “Sherlock Holmes and the Dancing Men” features an unusual cipher. In this podcast, I give a summary of the story, so listeners will understand why Sherlock solving the puzzle is important. I then explain how Sherlock was able to solve the Dancing Men cipher. He was able to solve it by using frequency analysis. I go on to explain how Sherlock solving this cipher is unrealistic because of more messages needed to be sent for frequency analysis to be more accurate. I then talk about how the dancing men cipher is similar to the Gold Bug cipher created by Edgar Allan Poe. I then describe some similarities between the two authors and their ciphers. I finish off my podcast by giving an example of popular cryptography in modern times.
I would like to thank Xiaoyu Dong and Xin Yi Zhang for helping me edit my script.
Sources
- https://www.geocachingtoolbox.com/index.php?page=dancingMen
- https://www.arthurconandoyle.com/biography.html
- https://illuminations.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Content/Lessons/Resources/9-12/Caesar-DancingMen.pdf
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/substitution-cipher
- https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/446/how-much-did-forensic-science-at-the-time-of-sherlock-holmes-publication-influe
Illustration by Sidney Paget.
52 episodes
Archived series ("Inactive feed" status)
When? This feed was archived on August 01, 2022 19:03 (). Last successful fetch was on August 12, 2021 19:05 ()
Why? Inactive feed status. Our servers were unable to retrieve a valid podcast feed for a sustained period.
What now? You might be able to find a more up-to-date version using the search function. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.
Manage episode 222710370 series 1932333
by Leah Strickland
The 1903 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story “Sherlock Holmes and the Dancing Men” features an unusual cipher. In this podcast, I give a summary of the story, so listeners will understand why Sherlock solving the puzzle is important. I then explain how Sherlock was able to solve the Dancing Men cipher. He was able to solve it by using frequency analysis. I go on to explain how Sherlock solving this cipher is unrealistic because of more messages needed to be sent for frequency analysis to be more accurate. I then talk about how the dancing men cipher is similar to the Gold Bug cipher created by Edgar Allan Poe. I then describe some similarities between the two authors and their ciphers. I finish off my podcast by giving an example of popular cryptography in modern times.
I would like to thank Xiaoyu Dong and Xin Yi Zhang for helping me edit my script.
Sources
- https://www.geocachingtoolbox.com/index.php?page=dancingMen
- https://www.arthurconandoyle.com/biography.html
- https://illuminations.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/Content/Lessons/Resources/9-12/Caesar-DancingMen.pdf
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/substitution-cipher
- https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/446/how-much-did-forensic-science-at-the-time-of-sherlock-holmes-publication-influe
Illustration by Sidney Paget.
52 episodes
All episodes
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