Cryptograph (coding and decoding machine) by Sir Charles Wheatstone, 1843-1875
- Made:
- 1843-1875 in United Kingdom
- maker:
- CHARLES WHEATSTONE
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Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
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Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Cryptograph (coding and decoding machine) by Sir Charles Wheatstone, unknown maker, British, 1843-1875.
Charles Wheatstone was concerned with the lack of secrecy in messages transmitted by telegraph, as they could be read by operators before being passed on to the intended recipient. For this reason, he devised this instrument, which was designed to encode and decode messages rapidly. Optimistically, he claimed that the code it created was indecipherable by any known method. An initial code word was chosen by the correspondents, and the letter rings and hands rotated to encode the message from this code word.
Details
- Category:
- Telecommunications
- Object Number:
- 1935-588
- Materials:
- wood, silk?, leather, satin, velvet, silver (metal) and copper alloy
- Measurements:
-
Case closed: 125 mm x 120 mm x 15 mm,
- type:
- cryptograph
- credit:
- Donated by Mr. R.L. Atkinson.
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