No one has to tell Jon Paul that the need to break World War II cryptography systems led to the advent of the modern computer. "I know more than just about anyone else," says Paul, an expert on the subject and founder of the Crypto-Museum of Marin.
Paul's "museum" temporarily spans two rooms of the electronic engineer's Novato, California, home (plans to relocate are in the works). The collection includes the world's largest private display of Enigma machines, some of which were used to encrypt messages to and from German U-boats.
Think you'd like to check it out? Think again. The museum is open only by appointment to cryptology professionals, and Paul's visitor screening process is notoriously fierce. But we can't talk about it - it's a secret. "If you had 10 Enigmas in your living room," he says, "you'd be that way, too."
