Letters, Jun. 4, 1956

(2 of 4)

U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Department of Commerce Washington, D.C.

Sir:

My thanks for the lucid report you gave on our new determination of the earth's size; your science editor made an excellent popularization of an intrinsically complex subject. I would like to point out that the new equatorial radius was determined not only by means of the arc from Finland to South Africa, but also from an equally long arc from Canada to Chile.

R. B. MOORE Lieutenant Colonel

Corps of Engineers, Army Map Service Washington, D.C.

Secret Weapons

Sir:

I enjoyed the May 14 article "Secret Weapons" and the picture that went with it. At first glance, the "posed cryptanalysts" looked quite innocent—until one realizes the intrigue that is involved in cryptography. I will look forward, however, to reading William and Elizabeth Friedman's book which will prove, by cryptanalysis, that the words of Shakespeare were written by Shakespeare.

DENNIS W. HALL

Omaha, Nebr.

Sir:

Your article carries an erroneous implication. Credit for the "priceless advantage in intelligence that led to such critical victories as Coral Sea, Midway and subsequent bold carrier strikes" belongs to the World War II Navy's, not the Army's, cryptanalytic bureau.

WILLIAM F. FRIEDMAN Washington, D.C.

The Navy's cryptanalytic bureau decoded the Japanese messages after Cryptanalyst Friedman and his Army colleagues cracked the "purple" code. —ED.

Sir:

As any member of the American Cryptogram Association knows, the biliteral cipher invented by Francis Bacon consists of fivefold combinations of A and B for each letter of the alphabet (A is AAAAA, B is AAAAB, etc.). With the turned heads representing the symbol B, the picture of World War I crypt-analysts in TIME uses this cipher to spell "Knowledge is poee!" plus one B; the remaining four A's necessary to complete the letter R are missing. There should be 80 persons in the picture if "Knowledge Is Power" is to be truly represented. There are only 76. Somebody must have got his signals mixed.

WARREN T. MCCREADY Kingston, Ont.

Reader McCready is right. One turned head and four missing ones spoil a perfect picture.—ED.

M.M.

Sir:

Your superb character portraits of Malraux, Sinatra et al. as well as that of Marilyn Monroe are of great value to the psychiatrist in the character analysis of his own patients. Marilyn's success in the tawdry roles to which she has been assigned is not due to her anatomic structure, but is to be explained in that life force which cannot be concealed in any medium . . .

HOWARD D. MC!NTYRE, M.D. Cincinnati

Sir:

Turn in your couch, TIME, along with your amateur analyst's badge. That rundown of what makes Marilyn fun hit a new low in taste.

MARIAN PEHOWSKI Wauwatosa, Wis.

Sir: