Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse: The Quest for the Quantum Computer
Apart from a few promising prototypes, quantum computers don t really exist yet, but never mind that--the very thought of them is enough to give a geek goosebumps. Imagine it: a computer capable of processing data not just on your desktop but in a million parallel universes all at once. The concept sounds like science fiction, but the freaky laws of quantum physics make it a concrete possibility. And the implications--as science journalist Julian Brown makes plain in Minds, Machines and the Multiverse: The Quest for the Quantum Computer, a daunting yet consistently gripping look at quantum computation s high frontiers--are sweeping.Computers powered by quantum weirdness, Brown tells us, could outperform existing machines to astronomical degrees, solving in minutes problems classical computers might take millennia to work through. But more to the point, the theoretical research that is making quantum computers plausible--led by gifted physicists like Rolf Landauer, David Deutsch and the late Richard Feynman--has already opened up intriguing new ways of thinking about the world and about computation s place in it.But Brown shows equal commitment to explaining not only what makes quantum computers fascinating but what makes them work. This is not, in other words, a book for those who blanch at the sight of complex equations and circuit diagrams. Still, Brown s explanations, while dense with information, are unerringly lucid, and anyone who sticks with them to the end will come away with exactly what this book promises: a penetrating understanding of a mind-bending technology. --Julian Dibbell, amazon.com
Great reading - Very interesting book with a good historical overview of the subject. Relatively easy reading with no formulas but consequently for a scientist a little superficial. I liked it and will also read some of the references in this book.
A quantum learning leap - A vigorous, detailed and penetrating tour de force into the fascinating realm of quantum physics and computability is what science journalist Julian Brown brings us in Quest for the Quantum Computer. Brown s extensive coverage of quantum theory for New Scientist has paid off handsomely. The author, in clean and not excessively technical prose, gives a detail-studded and insightful account of the development of the concept of quantum computing. Despite all the media hype and hubbub, I had no accurate idea of what was meant by quantum computing -- until I read Quest. Some sections, though requiring little or no mathematical background, nevertherless require use of one s mathematical faculties. But even if these sections are skimmed, a general reader comes away satisfied that he or she has learnt a great deal. Brown s commitment to professionalism is shown by inclusion of numerous illustrations, eight appendices on technicalities, a useful bibliography and careful chapter notes.
