This is a book based on the lectures given by the authors to advanced (fourth year) undergraduate students at Oxford University. The students were expected to have "some" background in quantum mechanics and maybe computer science as well, but after reading the book, I can tell that there is almost no computer science in this book. In contrast, there is a lot of good physics in it, and some of it (especially the physics of EPR paradoxes and Bell inequalities for entangled states) is quite a bit beyond the understanding of an average physics undergraduate major with "some" background in quantum mechanics. In my opinion, to understand this stuff in depth, you need a solid background in quantum mechanics, preferably at the graduate level or even better.
My biggest complaint about this book is that it teaches the reader very little about any subject in depth. The book is presented as a very quick and very broad survey of quantum information and computing without getting into the details of any subject, and certainly not into questions like why and how. If you don't know much about quantum computing, you will learn a lot of new buzzwords from this book, and you will have some idea what two scientists may be talking about, but you still will not be able to understand the details and the subtleties of the conversation. As an example take the famous "no-cloning theorem". This central theorem is discussed only for about a page and a half, and if you did not understand it before reading the book, you will be no wiser to the subject. None of the fundamental implications of this theorem (for building quantum computers) are even mentioned in the book.
If you are not a physicist but if you have a good background in quantum mechanics you can still read and learn some things from this book. But you will not get satisfactory answers to questions like "why have we not built quantum computers yet that go beyond just a few q-bits", or "can quantum computers go around the current encryption systems". The computer scientists will be most intrigued by questions like the second one, because quantum computing has the potential (though there is no proof it yet) of solving NP-hard problems in polynomial time, thus bypassing the famous P-versus-NP problem in classical computer science. I wish the book made more of an attempt to expose, explain and discuss the most intriguing, controversial, and promising aspects of quantum computing, and the details of the difficulties of achieving these ends. The gedanken experiments with Bob and Alice sending each other entangled q-bits and making measurements loses its luster after a while when the user sees no connections between what's being discussed, and what he really wants to hear about.
Maybe my expectations were set too high. But I did not get what I hoped to get out of this book. I will give it a lukewarm recommendation.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Follow the authors
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
