ix
iAcknowledgments: The author is grateful to various people for their
time in proofreading various aspects of this project. Thanks go to Professor John
Brillhart, who received portions pertaining to his expertise, and as a pioneer
in computational number theory with his seminal work in primality testing
and factoring, it is an honour to have had him on board. I am grateful to
my American colleague Jacek Fabrykowski, a mathematician who devoted his
time to looking at the material. A special thanks to my former student (now
working cryptographer), Thomas Zaplachinski, whose invaluable expertise in
the field helped to keep the material current and accurate. A nonspecialist,
Michael Kozielec, assisted greatly in giving me the valuable perspective of the
uninitiated for this project which was highly beneficial in setting the proper
tone for the book. Thanks go to Ken Rosen, the series editor, who always
works diligently to promote the books in the series, and another special thanks
to Bob Stern, my senior editor, who makes the transition from copy to finished
product a seamless task. For specific information, especially on fine-tuning of
details on MULTICS, and related information, thanks go to Brian Kernighan
for providing background data.
Richard Mollin, Calgary
website: http://www.math.ucalgary.ca/˜ramollin/
e-mail:
[email protected]