Two Centuries On, a Cryptologist Cracks a Presidential Code. «In this message, Mr. Patterson set out to show the president and primary author of the Declaration of Independence what he deemed to be a nearly flawless cipher. "The art of secret writing," or writing in cipher, has "engaged the attention both of the states-man & philosopher for many ages," Mr. Patterson wrote. But, he added, most ciphers fall "far short of perfection." »
I think I would appreciate this article more if the cipher under discussion were put into context. How many expert cryptologists have attempted to crack this code in the past 200 years? How "tough" is it compared with other ciphers or codes? Is there anything about it that makes it unique to modern cryptologists?