Open AccessThe Mystery of the Dancing Men
Author(s) -
Manmohan Kaur
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of humanistic mathematics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2159-8118
DOI - 10.5642/jhummath.202102.25
Subject(s) - outreach , substitution (logic) , cipher , mathematics education , arithmetic , encryption , computer science , cryptography , mathematics , programming language , algorithm , computer security , law , political science
In this paper I describe an activity based on a 1903 Sherlock Holmes murder mystery, in which a substitution cipher is used to encrypt secret messages. The story provides a fun and interesting way to talk about frequency analysis, and can be used as a segue into mathematical constructs such as modular arithmetic and computation. The activity is accessible to ages twelve and above, and has been successfully used in mathematics outreach and popularization efforts as well as in general education and mathematics courses.