Talk:Reverse engineering

Would the bombe and the Enigma machine be an example of reverse engineering? 31.51.114.61 (talk) 21:57, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

Regarding the Enigma machine:

German military messages enciphered on the Enigma machine were first broken by the Polish Cipher Bureau, beginning in December 1932. This success was a result of efforts by three Polish cryptanalysts, Marian Rejewski, Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, working for Polish military intelligence. Rejewski reverse-engineered the device, using theoretical mathematics and material supplied by French military intelligence. Subsequently, the three mathematicians designed mechanical devices for breaking Enigma ciphers, including the cryptologic bomb.

The Enigma machine is also listed in the TOW article on reverse engineering (under the headline "Reverse engineering for military applications"):

During the Second World War, Polish and British cryptographers studied captured German "Enigma" message encryption machines for weaknesses. Their operation was then simulated on electro-mechanical devices called "Bombes" that tried all the possible scrambler settings of the "Enigma" machines to help break the coded messages sent by the Germans.

Hope this helps! Reverend Black Percy (talk) 22:10, 23 December 2016 (UTC)

But does it count as an example of reverse engineering - or a useful analogy? 86.146.99.34 (talk) 22:06, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

And there are a few cases of 'engineer encounters an "interesting device" in a SF story and decides "I want one of those/that gizmo is exactly what I need" and makes it.' (Though some of the gizmos are extrapolations of what is/what would logically be necessary/useful and 'the inner workings' are not described: AC Clarke and the communications satellite being one example). Anna Livia (talk) 15:50, 22 September 2017 (UTC)