World Expert and Professional Speaker on The Enigma Machine.
Speaker
Dr Mark Baldwin, World Expert and Professional Speaker on The Enigma Machine
Agenda
- 6:30pm - Informal Networking: Anna Sutton Building, Ground Floor, The evening starts with an opportunity to network informally over tea/coffee.
- 6:40pm - (10 to 15 minutes) Annual General Meeting – BCS members are welcome to join us in the lecture theatre for a brief AGM.
- 7:00pm - Lecture Theatre: Presentation by Dr Mark Baldwin, who is also known as “Doctor Enigma” - World Expert and Professional Speaker on The Enigma Machine. There will be opportunities to put questions to the speaker.
- 8:00pm - Demonstration: The audience will be invited to take part in a hands-on practical demonstration of one of the few surviving Enigma machines.
Synopsis
One of the Second World War's most fascinating stories is that of the Enigma machine, a portable encryption device widely used by the Germans, whose ciphers they believed to be totally secure. Nevertheless, by mathematical analysis and modern technology, the Allies devised techniques for 'breaking' Enigma ciphers, and thus read several million German messages, providing a wealth of reliable Intelligence. The attack on Enigma, initiated by the Poles in the early 1930s, was later perfected by the British at Bletchley Park, today open to the public as a museum site.
The intelligence gained was of immense value to the Allies in virtually every theatre of war, but nowhere more so than in the Battle of the Atlantic, that fierce conflict which lasted nearly six years and cost over 60,000 lives. Dr Baldwin uses the Battle of the Atlantic to exemplify the importance of code breaking in winning the war.
Only about 350 Enigma machines are known to survive worldwide; of these, only about a dozen are in public collections in Britain. As these machines are so rare, Dr Baldwin is providing a unusual opportunity for the audience not just to view, but also to operate, an original U-Boat Enigma machine – the actual machine which appeared in the film, ‘The Imitation Game’.
Have you ever wondered how many Enigma machines were made, how many Enigma machines still exist, was there an equivalent British machine, did the Germans break British ciphers, did the Germans ever realise that their Enigma ciphers were being broken? To find answers to these questions and many more come along to this presentation and also learn the role these early code breakers played in starting the computing industry.
About the speaker
Dr Mark Baldwin is well regarded as a world expert and professional speaker on The Enigma Machine. He graduated in Engineering from Cambridge University and worked initially in civil engineering, before obtaining a Master's Degree in Soil Mechanics from Imperial College, London.
After 15 years lecturing at Imperial, he moved to Shropshire to develop his book-selling and publishing business, established part-time in 1978. After 30 years, his bookshop has now closed, but six of the eight books on WW2 code breaking he has published are still in print.
For over twenty years, Dr Baldwin has spoken widely in UK and abroad on various 'Secret War' topics, focusing particularly on Enigma and Bletchley Park. Having delivered over 800 presentations to nearly 80,000 people globally; he is currently one of Britain's most experienced speakers on the Enigma machine, the work of the WW2 code breakers, and other WW2 Intelligence topics.
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COVID-19
BCS is following government guidelines and we would ask attendees to continue to also follow these guidelines. Please go to https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ for more information, advice, and instructions.
This event is brought to you by: BCS Chester and North Wales branch
