Experts Speak: Breaking The Enigma Code - Sharon Bertsch McGrayne

In 1939, German U-boats used orders encoded by the legendary Enigma machine to attack unarmed merchant marine ships brining supplies from the Americas to Great Britain.

Neither side thought those messages could be decoded, but when the code was broken, it altered the course of war and helped lead Allies to victory.

Sharon Bertsch McGrayne is the author of The Theory That Would Not Die andPrometheans in the Lab. Her work has been featured on Charlie Rose and NPR’sScience Friday.