Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Kindle
$31.71 - $43.49

Available instantly

Paperback
$53.05 - $57.99

$57.99

FREE Returns

to get FREE delivery Friday, November 22. Order within 3 hrs 23 mins

Or Non members get FREE delivery Sunday, November 24

Select delivery location

In Stock

$$57.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Returns

Returnable until Jan 31, 2025

Returns

Returnable until Jan 31, 2025

For the 2024 holiday season, eligible items purchased between November 1 and December 31, 2024 can be returned until January 31, 2025.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

$53.05

Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... Item in very good condition! Textbooks may not include supplemental items i.e. CDs, access codes etc... See less

$3.98 delivery Friday, November 29. Details

Or fastest delivery November 25 - 27. Details

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

$$57.99 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. Details

${cardName} not available for the seller you chose

${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}.

Ships from and sold by glenthebookseller.

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (27) from $39.00 + $3.99 shipping

Image Unavailable

Image not available for
Color:

To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Scott Aaronson

Follow

Quantum Computing Since Democritus 1st Edition

by Scott Aaronson (Author)

4.3 270 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$57.99","priceAmount":57.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"57","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"RSOtbYpWLWFW4ErQcji1cRVlmv9QMyE9FquxOrIC61kBelhgQH%2FMay%2FhYm35SDnctLwYDbEeFcZrmaaD%2F00NivtldergcFPoBzMeWSGDBJr385NRrL7J38osJ%2F80niYBO1m%2FIl%2Fw0QlpCruhyMtFRQ%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$53.05","priceAmount":53.05,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"53","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"05","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"RSOtbYpWLWFW4ErQcji1cRVlmv9QMyE9iA3YtZjnLVSc8dJJ5UexFuLmNbSVGZD%2FULasOohZXY5c43euaNZfKBSqV%2BSyJ7Jpd553ChXg4iFo%2Fsr3FTsM11sRdpSOZUfIQdP9NjBvGb4GiAxF5acJht5tRXGCM%2F0hcjhUaX3wEflrZq8MVwG4yhjPDDboHCwS","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Written by noted quantum computing theorist Scott Aaronson, this book takes readers on a tour through some of the deepest ideas of maths, computer science and physics. Full of insights, arguments and philosophical perspectives, the book covers an amazing array of topics. Beginning in antiquity with Democritus, it progresses through logic and set theory, computability and complexity theory, quantum computing, cryptography, the information content of quantum states and the interpretation of quantum mechanics. There are also extended discussions about time travel, Newcomb's Paradox, the anthropic principle and the views of Roger Penrose. Aaronson's informal style makes this fascinating book accessible to readers with scientific backgrounds, as well as students and researchers working in physics, computer science, mathematics and philosophy.

ISBN-10

9780521199568
ISBN-13

978-0521199568
Edition

1st
Publisher

Cambridge University Press
Publication date

April 29, 2013
Language

English
Dimensions

5.98 x 1.01 x 8.98 inches
Print length

398 pages
See all details

This item: Quantum Computing Since Democritus

$57.99

Get it as soon as Sunday, Nov 24

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: 10th Anniversary Edition

$83.99

Get it as soon as Sunday, Nov 24

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

Quantum Computer Science: An Introduction

$69.69

Get it as soon as Sunday, Nov 24

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price: $00

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Scott Aaronson has written a beautiful and highly original synthesis of what we know about some of the most fundamental questions in science: what is information? What does it mean to compute? What is the nature of mind and of free will? Highly recommended."
Michael Nielsen, author of Reinventing Discovery

"I laughed, I cried, I fell off my chair - and that was just reading the chapter on computational complexity. Aaronson is a tornado of intellectual activity: he rips our brains from their intellectual foundations; twists them through a tour of physics, mathematics, computer science, and philosophy; stuffs them full of facts and theorems; tickles them until they cry 'Uncle'; and then drops them, quivering, back into our skulls. Aaronson raises deep questions of how the physical universe is put together and why it is put together the way it is. While we read his lucid explanations we can believe - at least while we hold the book in our hands - that we understand the answers, too."
Seth Lloyd, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of Programming the Universe

"Not since Richard Feynman's Lectures on Physics has there been a set of lecture notes as brilliant and as entertaining. Aaronson leads the reader on a wild romp through the most important intellectual achievements in computing and physics, weaving these seemingly disparate fields into a captivating narrative for our modern age of information. Aaronson wildly runs through the fields of physics and computers, showing us how they are connected, how to understand our computational universe, and what questions exist on the borders of these fields that we still don't understand. This book is a poem disguised as a set of lecture notes. The lectures are on computing and physics, complexity theory and mathematical logic and quantum physics. The poem is made up of proofs, jokes, stories, and revelations, synthesizing the two towering fields of computer science and physics into a coherent tapestry of sheer intellectual awesomeness."
Dave Bacon, Google

"… how can I adequately convey the scope, erudition, virtuosity, panache, hilarity, the unabashed nerdiness, pugnacity, the overwhelming exuberance, the relentless good humor, the biting sarcasm, the coolness and, yes, the intellectual depth of this book?"
Frederic Green, SIGACT News

"It is the very definition of a Big Ideas Book … It's targeted to readers with a reasonably strong grounding in physics, so it's not exactly a light read … But for those with sufficient background, or the patience to stick with the discussion, the rewards will be great."
Sean Carroll and Jennifer Ouellette, Cocktail Party Physics, Scientific American blog

"The range of subjects covered is immense: set theory, Turing machines, the P versus NP problem, randomness, quantum computing, the hidden variables theory, the anthropic principle, free will, and time travel and complexity. For every one of these diverse topics, the author has something insightful and thought provoking to say. Naturally, this is not a book that can be read quickly, and it is definitely worth repeated reading. The work will make readers think about a lot of subjects and enjoy thinking about them. It definitely belongs in all libraries, especially those serving general readers or students and practitioners of computer science or philosophy. Highly recommended."
R. Bharath, Choice

"… lively, casual, and clearly informed by the author's own important work … stimulating … It should prove valuable to anyone interested in computational complexity, quantum mechanics, and the theory of quantum computing."
Francis Sullivan, Physics Today

"… a wonderful, personal exploration of topics in theory of computation, complexity theory, physics, and philosophy. His witty, informal writing style makes the material approachable as he weaves together threads of complexity theory, computing theory, mathematical logic, and the math and physics of quantum mechanics (QM) and quantum computing to show how these topics interrelate to each other, what that says about the universe, and something about us … this book is a treat."
G. R. Mayforth, Computing Reviews

Book Description

Takes students and researchers on a tour through some of the deepest ideas of maths, computer science and physics.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0521199565
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press; 1st edition (April 29, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 398 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780521199568
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0521199568
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 1.01 x 8.98 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #273,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #285 in Quantum Theory (Books)
- #635 in Computer Science (Books)
- #853 in Science & Mathematics

Customer Reviews:
4.3 270 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Scott Aaronson

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.

Customer reviews

270 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the book thought-provoking, intellectually stimulating, and informative. They describe it as a great book for anyone looking for history on this topic. Readers also mention the humor gives it a unique flavor. They say the book is not too bogged down with mathematical details and is approachable. Opinions are mixed on the reading quality, with some finding it funny and casual, while others say it's hard to read and of low-quality prose.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more

Thought provoking Readability Humor Ease of use Reading quality Style

30 customers mention "Thought provoking"23 positive7 negative

Customers find the book packed with deep insights on theory of computability. They say it's intellectually stimulating, informative, and entertaining. Readers mention the material builds their intuition and connects things together. They also say it speaks a fair bit about complexity theory.

"...'ll also like this book-- very intellectually stimulating, and brings us up to date on a lot of recent thinking in the intersection between..." Read more

"...to be the way in which it makes the material approachable, builds the reader's intuition, and connects thing together in ways that may not be obvious..." Read more

"...some of the more technical material, there were still fascinating arguments, thought experiments, discussions, and conclusions that I was able to..." Read more

"...What it's got going for it: Aaronson is very smart and reasonably eloquent. The table of contents is fantastic...." Read more

14 customers mention "Readability"14 positive0 negative

Customers find the book great and amazing.

"Book is so great but unfortunately my copy came with one of the pages completely detached :C." Read more

"Simply put, Quantum Computing Since Democritus is a great read, at least to those with an interest in computer science, physics, math, or related..." Read more

"...SImply amazing. IT is a book i will surely come back to and read again and again.Well done" Read more

"Excellent, and amusing, explanation of complexity, with which I was not familiar...." Read more

8 customers mention "Humor"8 positive0 negative

Customers find the humor in the book amusing, unique, and enjoyable. They say it's thought-provoking and a pleasure to learn from.

"...It's funny, engaging, easy to get into, but also quite deep: Not so easy any longer if you intend to follow everything in detail...." Read more

"...and skip those, you will find this a very thought provoking and enjoyable book." Read more

"Excellent, and amusing, explanation of complexity, with which I was not familiar...." Read more

"...a page or two to follow along, but this is informative and a pleasure to learn from." Read more

7 customers mention "Ease of use"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very easy to use. They mention it's approachable, engaging, and ambitious. Readers also say the writing style is funny and casual enough to be a leisurely read.

"...It's funny, engaging, easy to get into, but also quite deep: Not so easy any longer if you intend to follow everything in detail...." Read more

"...Some of it is easy going, while other sections will require considerable work on the readers part to get through." Read more

"...The book is in an informal style, not too bogged down with mathematical details, but to fully appeciate it, I'd recommend having some background in..." Read more

"Excellent, and amusing, explanation of complexity, with which I was not familiar...." Read more

12 customers mention "Reading quality"6 positive6 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the reading quality of the book. Some mention it's chock-full of amazing and wonderful insights, while others say it's hard to read, with low-quality prose and informal writing style.

"...The text is chock full of amazing and wonderful inisghts not only for the computationally inclined but also for the physicist...." Read more

"...The author's wiki, the Complexity Zoo helped. The authorial tone is flippant and he's tries to exceptionally witty some of the time especially when..." Read more

"Scott Aaronson's style is lucid and humorous--this is a great book if you're interested in computing and intrigued by quantum mechanics...." Read more

"...They are issues of Aaronson's low-quality prose. In a throwaway blog post, the jovial writing style would be okay; in a book, not so much...." Read more

7 customers mention "Style"4 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the style of the book. Some find it informal, charming, and idiosyncratic, while others say the information is presented poorly.

"...The book is in an informal style, not too bogged down with mathematical details, but to fully appeciate it, I'd recommend having some background in..." Read more

"I agree with other reviewers about the unsatisfying and inconsistent level of explanation...." Read more

"...book, the content, the author and the arguments and the style in which it is presented...." Read more

"In a word, disappointing...." Read more

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort by reviews type

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Professor dot biz

Paper vs. Kindle

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2013

Verified Purchase

I know, a lot of us wring our hands at spending 30 plus bucks US on a popularization of science book, 400 pages or not. So, the decision often comes down to Kindle-- significant savings BUT, are the diagrams and LaTex slaughtered so bad you can't read it?

Not in this case! First, the author doesn't HAVE that many formulas and diagrams, and equations are generally limited to P=NP (or not) type formats, which are given in the text and bold, so you don't end up with busted page breaks in the middle of illustrations or formulae.

Formula display is not a problem unique to Kindle-- most ereaders and tablets have an issue with them. The topics in this book are more conceptual, historic and descriptive (frankly, almost philosophical), so the eread format is just fine. If you like to make notes in "heavy" reading books like this, you'll obviously need a pencil and paper nearby, but need to judge whether getting it quickly and for 12 bucks less is worth that.

The links / added resources are up to date, live and not broken, another advantage of the Kindle format. If you read and enjoyed The Golden Ticket (The Golden Ticket: P, NP, and the Search for the Impossible), you'll also like this book-- very intellectually stimulating, and brings us up to date on a lot of recent thinking in the intersection between computing and physics. Highly recommended.

Kindle Tip: This is one of those titles that has a very GENEROUS (thank you publisher/author!) "look inside" feature on Amazon-- be sure to check it out! You'll see that even "proof" type formulas are given as bullets, so read fine on kindle. Best, the preview itself IS in kindle format, so you get the double advantage of WYSIWYG if you subsequently order via Kindle/ cloud/ tablet, etc.

16 people found this helpful

Helpful

Lucian Chauvin

Great book, detached page

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2024

Verified Purchase

Book is so great but unfortunately my copy came with one of the pages completely detached :C.

Helpful

VL

A very approachable, engaging, and ambitious book

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2013

Verified Purchase

I agree with other reviewers that Quantum Computing Since Democritus is written in the spirit of the likes of Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, and Douglas Hofstadter. It's funny, engaging, easy to get into, but also quite deep: Not so easy any longer if you intend to follow everything in detail. Why there is a painting of Che Guevara in a toga on the cover of the book however remains a mystery. ;)

This ambitious book weaves together many strands of inquiry: computation, science, mathematics, and philosophy. The conventional view of quantum mechanics, one that dates back to the first half of the 20th century yet is still often repeated in the media, is the notion that quantum theory is a mysterious "brute fact"; one that we have to accept without deeper understanding just because it works. Scott takes a refreshing and radical view. In his own words from the book:

"Quantum mechanics is a beautiful generalization of the laws of probability: A generalization based on the 2-norm rather than on the 1-norm, and on complex numbers rather than on nonnegative real numbers. It can be studied completely separately from its application to physics (and indeed doing so provides a good starting point for learning the physical application later). This generalized probability theory leads naturally to a new model of computation - the quantum computing model - that challenges notions of computation once considered a priori, and that theoretical scientists might have been driven to invent for their own purposes even if there were no relation to physics. In short, while quantum mechanics was invented a century ago to solve technical problems in physics, today it can be fruitfully explained from an extremely different perspective: as part of the history of ideas, math, logic, computation, and philosophy, about the limits of the knowable."

The wonderful thing about this book is that one can read it on a number of different levels. You can choose get a bird's eye view of many important ideas, or you can delve more deeply into the math. I consider this book's greatest achievement to be the way in which it makes the material approachable, builds the reader's intuition, and connects thing together in ways that may not be obvious. First of all it makes the reader *curious* about the technical details, which otherwise might seem pointless or boring to non-specialists; next it makes it a lot easier to know how to begin drilling into the more formal, mathematical aspects of the book.

I think Scott brings to this material a remarkable unifying vision. I feel like there's almost a complete education in math, physics, and comp sci concealed within this book. Scott takes us on a thrilling journey through many fields and ideas, often to unexpected places, like the information content of a black hole and the fundamental limits of computing based on things such as the schwarzschild radius.

17 people found this helpful

Helpful

V

A thought-provoking, fascinating book

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

Simply put, Quantum Computing Since Democritus is a great read, at least to those with an interest in computer science, physics, math, or related topics, but particularly the limits of computation & other topics in theoretical computer science. Some background in these areas would help the reader, and even with a little background I found some of it difficult to follow. This is not your usual, popular science-level book, nor is it aimed at experts. Even though I wasn't able to understand some of the more technical material, there were still fascinating arguments, thought experiments, discussions, and conclusions that I was able to follow and appreciate; the author is one of those scientists that as a knack for explaining. If you care about topics like the P vs. NP problem, the limits of quantum computation, etc, you should read this book. If you don't, I have no idea why you're reading this review, and you should probably look for something you're more interested in, because this book isn't exactly light, fluffy reading material.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Robert C. Dennis

This is easily one of the best books ive ever read

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

This is easily one of the best books ive ever read. Aaronson goes through problems and examples rather quickly so be prepared to stop and think and work along with pen and paper.

While he introduces complexity theory he does assume the reader is already familiar. He even explicitly states so several times. Be that as it may a hard working reader can certainly follow along.

The text is chock full of amazing and wonderful inisghts not only for the computationally inclined but also for the physicist. Aaronson has a unique view of physics and i found his perspective wildly illuminating.

I wish id have found and read this book in 2012 when it was published.

SImply amazing. IT is a book i will surely come back to and read again and again.

Well done

15 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Aaron

Great introduction to quantum computing for those with a computer science background

Reviewed in Canada on May 12, 2023

Verified Purchase

The theoretical underpinnings of quantum computing are vitally important for even an introductory level understanding of the topic. Aaronson has an intuitive writing style, and introduces all the relevant background topics to the depth they are required to study this topic. Skipping classical physics and going straight to quantum was easier than expected. This book lays the ground work to understand practical applications in the field, while keeping it's focus on the operative question: What could we actually do with a quantum computer, why should we think it is possible, and how do we know they'll be fundamentally different from classical computers?

Arnaud Casteigts

Fun and insightful

Reviewed in France on October 1, 2024

Verified Purchase

This book contains the quintessence of theoretical computer science, in Aaronson's unique writing style: fun, provocative, insightful, and deep.

Douglas Ribas de Mattos

N/A

Reviewed in Brazil on May 30, 2024

Verified Purchase

N/A

Karsten Elena

Good

Reviewed in Germany on February 10, 2023

Verified Purchase

Good

Bassegoda

Incide mas en los problemas de la comp. en general, que en los de la comp. cuántica propiamente.

Reviewed in Spain on November 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

Interesante si te quieres formar una idea ( pocas explicaciones y muy denso) de los problemas de lo que el autor llama teoría de la complejidad ( o sea: ...de computación ).
Si lo que buscas es adquirir conocimientos para introducirte en la computación cuántica, mejor otros libros cómo : "Quantum computation and quantum information", que se puede considerar la biblia de la computación cuántica, o bien : "Quantum computing explained", que es un poco más asequible. Por sólo citar a dos de los más conocidos hasta la fecha.

Translate review to English

See more reviews

Return this item for free

Image Unavailable

Follow the author