[ARC5] Dead Pigeons, Secret Messages, and Random Numbers

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 27 Nov 2012 at 10:24, J. Forster wrote:

> This is why I posted my question:
> 
> Does anyone know how they produced the one-time pads?
> 
> If they came from a small set of books, it should be practical to
> regenerate the pads, and decrypt the message.
> 
> I simply do not believe they were mechanically produced by any
> computer of the day.

Well, I am not so sure about that: the calibration books for the BC-221 series 
were all made up and printed by a mechanical computer.

And then there were the computers, designed and built by Ford (NOT the car 
company) which were used on all Navy ships to direct their fire...not to 
mention the computers used in the B-29 for control of their defensive 
armament.

As you said, those folks were very ingenious and clever. Babbage is a case 
in point and that was over 150 years ago.

Ken W7EKB