Quantum Computing Since Democritus: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Book by Scott Aaronson}}

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'''Quantum Computing Since Democritus''' is a 2013 book on [[bookquantum information science]] written by [[Scott Aaronson]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/physics/quantum-physics-quantum-information-and-quantum-computation/quantum-computing-democritus#KC913ZrlGKlyMFTd.97|title=Quantum computing democritus {{!}} Quantum physics, quantum information and quantum computation|website=Cambridge University Press|language=en|access-date=2017-09-09}}</ref> It is loosely based on a course Aaronson taught at the [[University of Waterloo]], Canada, the lecture notes for which are available online.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scottaaronson.com/democritus/|title=PHYS771 Quantum Computing Since Democritus|website=www.scottaaronson.com|access-date=2017-09-09}}</ref>

== Contents ==

TheAaronson bookhas isstated meantthat he intends the book to be ofat the same level as [[Leonard Susskind|Leonard Susskind]]'s]] ''[[The Theoretical Minimum]]'' or [[Roger Penrose|Roger Penrose]]'s]] ''[[The Road to Reality]]'';<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://motls.blogspot.com/2013/04/scott-aaronson-quantum-computing-since.html|title=Scott inAaronson: betweenQuantum [[PopularComputing sciencesince Democritus|popwebsite=The scienceReference Frame|access-date=2017-09-10}}</ref> ''[[Physics Today]]'' levelcompared readingit andto [[textbookGeorge Gamow]]'s level''[[One readingTwo Three... Infinity]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Sullivan|first=Francis|date=2014-02-28|title=Quantum Computing Since Democritus|journal=Physics Today|volume=67|issue=3|pages=54–56|doi=10.1063/PT.3.2315|issn=0031-9228|bibcode=2014PhT....67c..54S|doi-access=free}}</ref> The book covers everything from [[computer science]] to [[mathematics]] to [[quantum mechanics]] and [[quantum computing]], starting, as the title indicates, with [[Democritus]].

=== TableFront of Contentscover ===

The front cover image is an oil canvas painting of Democritus by [[Hendrick ter Brugghen|Hendrik ter Brugghen]] dated 1628.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Democritus, Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1628 |url=https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-2783 |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=Rijksmuseum |language=en}}</ref> It depicts Democritus as a young, laughing hedonist who points in the distance, as to where the folly of mankind is found.

# Atoms and the void

# Sets

# Gödel, Turing, and friends

# Minds and machines

# Paleocomplexity

# P, NP, and friends

# Randomness

# Crypto

# Quantum

# Quantum computing

# Penrose

# Decoherence and hidden variables

# Proofs

# How big are quantum states?

# Skepticism of quantum computing

# Learning

# Interactive proofs, circuit lower bounds, and more

# Fun with the Anthropic Principle

# Free will

# Time travel

# Cosmology and complexity

# Ask me anything

The image invokes Aaronson's discussions<ref>{{Cite web |title=PHYS771 Lecture 1: Atoms and the Void |url=https://www.scottaaronson.com/democritus/lec1.html |access-date=2024-01-04 |website=www.scottaaronson.com}}</ref> on Democritus' concept of atoms and the void, which forms the foundational understanding of matter at the atomic level, is relevant to quantum computing, where manipulating and controlling individual quantum objects for calculations echoes the early atomic theory's significance.

== Author ==

Scott Aaronson is a [[Americans|American]] [[physicist]] at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] in the field of quantum computing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123406|title=NSF Honors Two Early Career Researchers With Alan T. Waterman Award {{!}} NSF - National Science Foundation|website=www.nsf.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-09-10}}</ref>

== ReviewsAuthor ==

Scott Aaronson is a professor of [[Americans|Americantheoretical computer science]] at the [[physicistUniversity of Texas at Austin]]. He was previously a member of the faculty at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] in the field of quantum computing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123406|title=NSF Honors Two Early Career Researchers With Alan T. Waterman Award {{!}} NSF - National Science Foundation|website=www.nsf.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-09-10|archive-date=2021-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210708084729/https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=123406|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Michael Nielsen]], author of the classic [[quantum computing]] text ''[[Quantum Computing and Quantum Information]]'' reviewed the book, saying, “This book is a beautiful 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? Along the way, Scott Aaronson provides crisp and often highly original explanations of some of the most striking recent ideas in science, ideas such as zero-knowledge proofs, quantum computing, black hole entropy, and many others.  Highly recommended.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=1277#comment-66937|title=Comment by Michael Nielsen on Shtetl-Optimized Quantum Computing Since Democritus: The Buzz Intensifies|last=|first=|date=|website=www.scottaaronson.com|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2017-09-09}}</ref>

== Reception ==

[[Seth Lloyd]] said about the book, "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. [He] 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."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9781107302105|title=Quantum Computing since Democritus - Cambridge University Press|website=www.cambridge.org|language=en|access-date=2017-09-09}}</ref>

In the ''[[Journal of the American Mathematical Society]],'' [[Avi Wigderson]] considered it to have "much insight, wisdom, and fun", but conceded that it "is not for everyone". Widgerson noted in particular that the book would have been easier to read if it had provided more background material, and that it had little in the way of references to prior literature.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wigderson|first=Avi|title=Quantum Computing Since Democritus Book Review|url=https://www.ams.org/notices/201410/rnoti-p1218.pdf|journal=Journal of the American Mathematical Society|year=2014|volume=61| issue = 10|pages=1218–1220|doi=10.1090/noti1176|doi-access=free}}</ref> Reviewing the book for ''[[Physics Today]],'' Francis Sullivan deemed it "stimulating", while saying that it "covers too much territory to be used as a textbook" and taking exception with Aaronson's attitude "that mathematicians like complication because it makes things more interesting".<ref name=":0" /> Frederic Green's enthusiastic review for [[ACM SIGACT|''SIGACT News'']] also judged the book poorly suited for a classroom text, except possibly in "a seminar-style course with a fairly open structure".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Green |first=Frederic |date=2013-12-10 |title=Review quantum computing since democritus by Scott Aaronson |url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2556663.2556673 |journal=ACM SIGACT News |language=en |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=42–47 |doi=10.1145/2556663.2556673 |issn=0163-5700|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Reviel Netz]] gave the book a positive review in ''Common Knowledge'', quipping that "I suspect that I was sent this book by mistake; despite its title, it has nothing to do with ancient science, my field."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Netz |first=Reviel |date=2014 |title=Quantum Computing since Democritus by Scott Aaronson (review) |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/558134 |journal=Common Knowledge |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=490–491 |issn=1538-4578}}</ref>

Other reviews were not as positive - [[Stephen Wolfram]] said about the book, "I think Scott Aaronson has delusions of grandeur. Even the title of his book: “A New Kind of Science, Quantum Computing Since Democritus” sounds a bit pretentious to me. Mr. Aaronson thinks he can write a really fat book about everything under the sun and that everyone is going to rush to read every word of it. Good luck Mr. Aaronson!"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://qbnets.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/stephen-wolfram-reviews-quantum-computing-since-democritus/|title=Stephen Wolfram Reviews “Quantum Computing Since Democritus”|date=2013-04-13|website=Quantum Bayesian Networks|access-date=2017-09-09}}</ref>

== References ==

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{{reflist}}

# [[Category:Quantum computing]]

{{AFC submission|||ts=20170910002153|u=Nerd1a4i|ns=118}}

[[Category:Quantum information theory]]

[[Category:2013 non-fiction books]]

[[Category:Popular science books]]