author
Parker Hitt
b. 1878
Best known as a pioneering U.S. Army cryptologist, he helped lay the groundwork for modern American military codebreaking and also worked in early aviation. His career stretched from the Spanish-American War era into the twentieth century’s changing world of communications and intelligence.
1 Audiobook
Manual for the Solution of Military Ciphers
by Parker Hitt
About the author
Born in Indianapolis on August 27, 1878, Parker Hitt studied civil engineering at Purdue University before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. He went on to build a wide-ranging military career and is especially remembered for his work in cryptology.
Hitt is often described as a foundational figure in American military cryptography. His 1916 book Manual for the Solution of Military Ciphers is widely noted as the first U.S. work of its kind in a century, and it helped shape later cryptologic practice. He also served in military aviation, showing the same interest in new technology that marked his cipher work.
He died on March 2, 1971, in Front Royal, Virginia. Today he is remembered less as a conventional literary author than as a practical thinker whose technical writing influenced generations of military intelligence and communications specialists.