>
  >SUBJECT: Cryptography book announcement (by the author)
  >
  >             ==============================================
  >             | FOUNDATIONS OF CRYPTOGRAPHY -- BASIC TOOLS |
  >             |            by Oded Goldreich               |
  >             ==============================================
  >
  >ISBN 0-521-79172-3                      Cambridge University Press
  >
  >Title's web-page: http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/foc-vol1.html
  >Publisher web-page (accepting orders for this title):
  >                  http://www.cup.org/Titles/79/0521791723.htm
  >Publication date (in US): mid-June 2001.
  >
  >=========================================================================
  >
  >Cryptography is concerned with the construction of schemes that
  >should maintain a desired functionality, even under malicious
  >attempts aimed at making them deviate from it.
  >The design of cryptographic systems has to be based on firm foundations;
  >whereas ad-hoc approaches and heuristics are a very dangerous way to go.
  >
  >
  >This work is aimed at presenting firm foundations for cryptography.
  >The foundations of cryptography are the paradigms, approaches
  >and techniques used to conceptualize, define and provide solutions
  >to natural ``security concerns''.
  >The emphasis of the work is on the clarification of fundamental concepts
  >and on demonstrating the feasibility of solving several central
  >cryptographic problems. This is done in a way independent of
  >the particularities of some popular number theoretic examples.
  >Thus, the most relevant background is basic knowledge of algorithms
  >(including randomized ones), computability and elementary probability theory.
  >
  >The current book is the first volume of this work, and it focuses
  >on the main tools of Modern Cryptography: computational difficulty
  >(one-way functions), pseudorandomness and zero-knowledge proofs.
  >The next volume will focus on the main applications of Cryptography:
  >encryption schemes, signature schemes and secure protocols.
  >Fragments of the second volume are available online from
  >  http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/foc-vol2.html
  >Together, the available material can serve as a textbook for
  >a course on the Foundations of Cryptography. Teaching suggestions
  >are provided in the current volume and are also available from
  >  http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/foc-vol1.html
  >
  >The high-level structure of the current volume is as follows:
  >-  Chapter 1: Introduction
  >        Main Topics covered by the book (Sec. 1.1)
  >        Background on Probability and Computation (Sec. 1.2 and 1.3)
  >        Motivation to the Rigorous Treatment (Sec. 1.4)
  >-  Chapter 2: Computational Difficulty (One-Way Functions)
  >        Motivation and Definitions (Sec. 2.1 and 2.2)
  >        One-Way functions: Weak implies Strong (Sec. 2.3)
  >        Variants (Sec. 2.4) and advanced material (Sec.  2.6)
  >        Hard-Core Predicates (Sec. 2.5)
  >-  Chapter 3: Pseudorandom Generators
  >        Motivation and Definitions (Sec. 3.1-3.3)
  >        Constructions based on One-Way Permutations (Sec.  3.4)
  >        Pseudorandom Functions (Sec. 3.6)
  >        Advanced material (Sec. 3.5 and 3.7)
  >-  Chapter 4: Zero-Knowledge Proofs
  >        Motivation and Definitions (Sec. 4.1-4.3)
  >        Zero-Knowledge Proofs for NP (Sec. 4.4)
  >        Advanced material (Sec. 4.5-4.11)
  >-  Appendix A: Brief Background on Computational Number Theory
  >-  Appendix B: Brief Outline of Volume 2
  >-  Bibliography and Index
  >
  >For further details on this work and the current volume,
  >see http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/foc-book.html
  >and http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/foc-vol1.html
  >respectively.
  >
  >ANSWER TO A FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
  >   How does this volume relate to the book "Modern Cryptography,
  >   Probabilistic Proofs and Pseudorandomness"?
  >The current volume is only remotely related to the former book,
  >published in 1999 by Springer: Chapter 1 of the "Springer book"
  >provides a 30-page overview (or summary) to the entire work,
  >which holds 350 pages in its current (first) volume only.
  >Chapters 2 and 3 of the "Springer book" provide a wider perspective
  >on Probabilistic Proof systems and Pseudorandomness, respectively.
  >An extensive treatment of the Cryptographically-related aspects
  >of these areas is provided in the current volume, but the interested reader
  >may benefit from the wider perspective offered in the "Springer book".
  >For further detail on the "Springer book",
  >see http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/book1.html
  >