Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)
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This study day includes a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum and follows a pioneering and interdisciplinary exhibition, Codebreakers and Groundbreakers. It expands on the history of cryptography and the decipherment of ancient scripts. It examines the remarkable intellectual achievements and parallel narratives of two groups of ‘codebreakers’. These groups worked independently but at the same time and were involved in breaking the Second World War codes and deciphering the ancient script of Linear B; Europe’s earliest comprehensible writing system. The study day will be based on a variety of archaeological and archival evidence and will encourage participants to explore and eventually assess ‘codebreaking’ in all its forms.