[{"_1":2,"_67":-5,"_68":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_37":38,"_65":-5,"_66":-5},"root",{"_5":-5,"_6":-5,"_7":8,"_22":-5,"_23":24,"_25":26,"_29":30,"_35":36},"user","shoppingCartId","shoppingCart",{"_9":10,"_11":12,"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":18,"_19":20,"_21":14},"id","no-cart","count",0,"free",true,"updatedAt","2026-01-27T04:45:50.278Z","paymentGateway","STRIPE","cartItems",[],"loading","toast","locale","en","constants",{"_27":28},"paypalClientId","AX53Cwz8jR6rVVzzZiZNWWXl0dGagi-GZrjG-S3Ua14E5nrKMn7DxDQ730O4R8LusLPp49ALn6aRVaEy","publishers",{"_31":32,"_33":34},"companies",[],"universities",[],"needsLocaleCookieSync",false,"routes/_store+/_readers+/email_author.$slug/route",{"_39":40,"_64":-5},"book",{"_9":41,"_42":43,"_44":45,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51},"Z2lkOi8vbGVhbnB1Yi9TdG9yZTo6Qm9va1Byb2R1Y3QvNDc1Mzk","title","From Capone to Cray: Where Computers Really Came From","state","retired","contactAuthorMethod","email","aboutText","

It's surely weird to connect Al Capone to the Medal of Honor, but the connection's there in front of us. The Prohibition-era rum runners bring us to Elizebeth Smith Friedman who solved Enigma during World War II with pencil and paper. She, in turn, left us a secret in plain sight, on her headstone in Arlington National Cemetery. That secret waited decades for another woman to notice.

Friedman and her husband, William F. Friedman, bring us to the National Security Agency (NSA) and its predecessors. The NSA's needs included Top Secret \"Task 13,\" the first stored-program digital computer. The NSA's role in creating digital computers was not acknowledged until 67 years later in July 2017. It's time we knew!

Ed tells this story from his personal perspective--because he's in it.

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