Dans Mon Catalogue

Paperback, 224 pages

English language

Published Feb. 10, 2004 by Vintage.

ISBN:: 9780375726187

(1 review)

New York Times writer George Johnson reveals the fascinating world of quantum computing—the holy grail of super computers where the computing power of single atoms is harnassed to create machines capable of almost unimaginable calculations in the blink of an eye.

As computer chips continue to shrink in size, scientists anticipate the end of the road: A computer in which each switch is comprised of a single atom. Such a device would operate under a different set of physical laws: The laws of quantum mechanics. Johnson gently leads the curious outsider through the surprisingly simple ideas needed to understand this dream, discussing the current state of the revolution, and ultimately assessing the awesome power these machines could have to change our world.

4 editions

emmadilemma reviewed A Shortcut Through Time by George Johnson

Everywhere at once

3 stars

It was too much for me to hope to grasp quantum computing from one book, and perhaps I got as much as I could have reasonably hoped for: I know what I don't know and I will recognize these terms when dropped at the quantum water cooler.

Coming from a science and computing background at university, I knew the basics of electronics and cryptography. I fear someone without this background might not make it far in this book. The quantum bits (er, qubits) I get the basics of, but several core concepts left me with 'how' and 'why' questions that were necessarily hand-waved, to use the author's term.

How does entanglement happen and how does one choose the kind of entanglement? Why is entanglement over large distance assumed axiomatically when it's a great feat to have it happen from one side of the table to the other? How do I …

It was too much for me to hope to grasp quantum computing from one book, and perhaps I got as much as I could have reasonably hoped for: I know what I don't know and I will recognize these terms when dropped at the quantum water cooler.

Coming from a science and computing background at university, I knew the basics of electronics and cryptography. I fear someone without this background might not make it far in this book. The quantum bits (er, qubits) I get the basics of, but several core concepts left me with 'how' and 'why' questions that were necessarily hand-waved, to use the author's term.

How does entanglement happen and how does one choose the kind of entanglement? Why is entanglement over large distance assumed axiomatically when it's a great feat to have it happen from one side of the table to the other? How do I get atoms in 'superposition' to give me a meaningful answer rather than a completely random number?

I come away from this book more skeptical than before about quantum computing, which surely isn't the author's desire, but it does lay the groundwork for me eventually understanding something.