The Friedman Legacy: A Tribute to William and Elizabeth Friedman

To term this modest collection The Friedman
Legacy requires both explanation and apologia. Of
Friedman, as of Wren, it might well be said, “If you
seek his monument, look around you” at the giant
and far-flung corporate entity that represents
American cryptology today. But a most tangible and
rewarding form of his legacy for many of us has
long been his “Lectures.” First published within
NSA in 1963, after serialization in a journal five
years earlier, they were republished two years
later by his first recruit into government service
and the first commandant of the National
Cryptologic School, the eminent cryptologist Frank
Rowlett. In his Foreword to that edition, Mr.
Rowlett described the lectures as “. . . the history of
Cryptology [as] recorded by the most prominent
pioneer in the application of scientific principles to
the field – one who, without question, laid the foundation
for our modern concepts. It is hoped that
both new and old employees may be inspired with a
feeling of belonging to a profession that abounds in
drama and fascination and that has had a profound
impact on history.”