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| View Larger Image | The Feynman Processor : Quantum Entanglement and the Computing Revolution (Helix Books Series) | Paperbackby Gerard J. Milburn (Author)
| List Price: | $16.00 | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Basic Books | | Edition: | Repirntth Edition | | Page Count: | 240 Pages | | Publication Date: | December 01, 1999 | | Sales Rank: | 1,283,943st |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
An astounding glimpse into the future of physics and computers. Quantum computing, the reduction of computing elements to sizes far smaller than that of present-day chips, down to the size of individual atoms, presents new problems, problems on the quantum level. But thanks to new discoveries by Gerard Milburn and other cutting-edge scientists, quantum computing is about to become a reality. In this book, the first one for the general public to explain the scientific ideas behind concepts seen before only in science fiction, physicist Milburn brings us the exciting world of phenomena of entanglement, where particles can be in two places at the same time, where matter on the quantum level can be teleported à la Star Trek's famous Transporter; and where cryptographers can construct fundamentally unbreakable computer codes. Although other books and magazine articles have dealt with some of the subjects in this book, this is the first book for the layman to deal specifically with quantum computing, an area pioneered by the great physicist Richard Feynman, who first posed the challenge to scientists to devise the smallest, fastest computer elements, to take us to the absolute physical limits of computers. This book promises to both astound and educate every reader eager to keep abreast of the latest breakthroughs in physics and computers. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 1.5 based on 11 reviews)
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a really poor attempt by O (the northern rockies, wy usa)  1 Stars
February 26, 2009
poorly written. i'm talking about the author's use of English; extremely confusing. and that's before we even get to the jargon.
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A very ordinary effort by R. Lazarovits (Australia) 1 Stars
August 13, 2006
This book does not take you through quantum computing in any logical way. The author does not explain where he is going with his lengthy examples in each section. Instead he tends to launch into hard to follow, artificially concocted examples with little rationale and then move to the next topic without a conclusion or a reason for why he put the reader through such boring experience. The discussion of the Bohr - Einstein debate told me nothing of what the debate was about and there are many references to the EPR without any real explanation of what was in it. There must be a better way to understand this subject else I will have to conclude that Einstein was right and God really does play dice. Give this book a miss... it is simply not worth the effort. Even my one star is generous.
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Very confusing by A. Shiekh (Tsaile, AZ United States) 1 Stars
September 04, 2005
Mathematics was invented for a reason, and the avoidance of even simple mathematics makes this book near unintelligible. Further, the habit of versing quantum theory in terms of genetics, real and imagined, further separates the subject mater from the reader; and giving Feynman credit for how probability amplitudes add would probably not please him at all. Give this one a wide berth and read instead 'The quest for the quantum computer' by Julian Brown which is everything this book is not.
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skip it by Derek N. Warr (North Bay Village, FL USA) 1 Stars
April 07, 2002
One of the most glib and inaccessible treatments of the subject I've encountered. You're much better off with something like Julian Brown's "Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse" or Feynman's own lectures on computation.
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Some good material badly written, with a lot of junk by Leo Dirac (Seattle, WA United States)  2 Stars
March 07, 2001
This book is clearly written by a physics professor who doesn't spend much time talking to people who haven't studied physics. I would guess his editor falls into this category as well. The back cover praises its accessibility, a marketing gimmick as obviously deceptive as the sensationalistic chapter names. For example, one chapter, "Teleportation for Gamblers" is named after an obscure quantum phenomenon that has been dubbed teleportation for no apparent reason, has nothing to do with gambling, and is only referred to in passing.The first four chapters try to give an overview of quantum mechanics to those who haven't studied physics. Even after spending 4 years earning a Bachelor's in Physics, I was only barely able to follow the discussion. If I did not already understand the principles he was explaining, I would never have been able to fill in the holes of explanation. But my biggest complaint about this section is that he bases the entire discussion on calculating probabilities in a quantum environment. But in trying to avoid complex math, he leaves out essential details. The much more intuitive explanation of superposition of states (whereby an object is in two places or states at the same time) he barely mentions in this section. If the material was presented in this way, all the math would be unnecessary, and the interesting second part of the book would make much more sense.Beyond that, the book contains numerous factual mistakes. His Turing machine for multiplying on page 99 just doesn't work. On page 109, he says that if you have N objects, and for each object you need to store N pieces of information that have a total of N^N pieces of information. The correct answer, N^2, makes his point much less dramatic.The last two chapters are interesting indeed. They discuss what is possible with a quantum computer, and the state of research in 1998. I recommend that if you do buy this book, only read the last two chapters. If you can't follow it, look anywhere else for an explanation. The first four chapters will not help.
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SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| Quest for the Quantum Computer
by Julian Brown (Author), David Deutsch (Foreword)
Taking readers to the cutting edge of physics, mathematics, and computer science, Julian Brown tells the dramatic story of the groundbreaking efforts to create a fundamentally new kind of computer that would be astronomically more powerful than today's machines. In 1998, a team of researchers announced they had produced the world's first quantum computer in a cup of chloroform. In fascinating, fully accessible detail, Brown explains the ideas that led up to this accomplishment and explores...
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| A Shortcut Through Time: The Path to the Quantum Computer
by George Johnson (Author)
In this remarkably illustrative and thoroughly accessible look at one of the most intriguing frontiers in science and computers, award-winning 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...
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| QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Princeton Science Library)
by Richard P. Feynman (Author), A. Zee (Introduction)
Celebrated for his brilliantly quirky insights into the physical world, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman also possessed an extraordinary talent for explaining difficult concepts to the general public. Here Feynman provides a classic and definitive introduction to QED (namely quantum electrodynamics), that part of quantum field theory describing the interactions of light with charged particles. Using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned "Feynman diagrams"...
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| Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures
by Richard P. Feynman (Author), Steven Weinberg (Author)
Developing a theory that seamlessly combines relativity and quantum mechanics, the most important conceptual breakthroughs in twentieth century physics, has proved to be a difficult and ongoing challenge. This book details how two distinguished physicists and Nobel laureates have explored this theme in two lectures given in Cambridge, England, in 1986 to commemorate the famous British physicist Paul Dirac. Given for nonspecialists and undergraduates, the talks transcribed in Elementary...
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| The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?
by Leon Lederman (Author), Dick Teresi (Author)
In this extraordinarily accessible and enormously witty book, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman guides us on a fascinating tour of the history of particle physics. The book takes us from the Greeks' earliest scientific observations through Einstein and beyond in an inspiring celebration of human curiosity. It ends with the quest for the Higgs boson, nicknamed the God Particle, which scientists hypothesize will help unlock the last secrets of the subatomic universe. With a new...
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