Programming the Universe: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 16:06, 8 June 2009

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{{Advert|date=April 2008}}

{{Infobox Book

| name = Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos

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'''''Programming the Universe''''' is a [[popular science]] book written by [[Seth Lloyd]], and first published in 2006. Giving a tourprofessor of howmechanical informationengineering has evolved fromat the earliest[[Massachusetts daysInstitute of Man to how it is presented nowTechnology]], Lloydpublished providesin an extension of the older laymans science book as he provides information that has been discovered recently via experiments2006. ItIn gives an overview of thermodynamics and quantum mechanicsit, with the laymans surprise as he deals withadvanced the essentialview aspectsthat ofthe [[physics]]universe tois explainactually hisa pointgiant ofquantum viewcomputer.

As reviewer Corey S. Powell put it in the ''New York Times''. Lloyd:

As the laws of physics dictate [[the Universe]], Lloyds contention is that by understanding the laws of physics we can understand the Universe itself. The Universe in his interpretation is a [[quantum computer]] that computes following the laws of physics to transform the bits that are defined by the [[atom]]s in terms of their properties (for example, [[quantum spin]] and alignment) as it is these bits that eventually give rise to 'its' like an object made of atoms. The Universe is thus in other words processing information; by understanding this process would give a better understanding of why the Universe is complex. One of the book's main ideas is that information and energy are equivalent, reading the book would give the reader a better idea of how and why this is so. The book seems to contain a philosophy of what many physicists believe the Universe to be, it underlies many of the ideas like when the existence of the '[[ghost in the machine]]' is questioned, or when intelligent design is brushed aside as misguided.

<blockquote>In the space of 221 dense, frequently thrilling and occasionally exasperating pages, … tackles computer logic, thermodynamics, chaos theory, complexity, quantum mechanics, cosmology, consciousness, sex and the origin of life — throwing in, for good measure, a heartbreaking afterword that repaints the significance of all that has come before.takes as his topic the fundamental workings of the universe…, which he thinks has been horribly misunderstood. Scientists have looked at it as a ragtag collection of particles and fields while failing to see what it is as a majestic whole: an enormous computer.<ref>{{cite news

The book's goal according to Lloyd is to "reveal the fundamental role that information plays in the universe ... By understanding how the universe computes, we can understand why it is complex."

==Notes==

{{Citations missing|date=May 2008}}

{{reflist}}

==References==

*{{cite news

| last = Powell

| first = Corey S.

| title = Welcome to the Machine

| work = 'Programming the Universe,' by Seth Lloyd

| publisher = ''[[The New York Times]]''

| date = April 2, 2006-04-02

| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/books/review/02powell.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

| accessdate = 20082009-0506-1708}}

</ref>

}}

</blockquote>

*{{cite news

Lloyd, wrote Powell, is "one of the world's experts in a new kind of computing device, called a quantum computer, which . . . mimic the natural world perfectly,"

In an interview with ''[[Wired]]'' magazine, Lloyd postulated that

<blockquote>everything in the universe is made of bits. Not chunks of stuff, but chunks of information — ones and zeros. … Atoms and electrons are bits. Atomic collisions are "ops." Machine language is the laws of physics. The universe is a quantum computer.<ref>{{cite news

| title = Life, the Universe, and Everything

| work = Issue 14.03

| publisher = ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]''

| date = March 2006

| url = http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.03/play.html?pg=4

| accessdate = 20082009-0506-1708

}}</ref></blockquote>

}}

Gilbert Taylor, writing in ''Booklist'' of the American Library Association, said that the book:

<blockquote>offers brilliantly clarifying explanations of the "bit," the smallest unit of information; how bits change their state; and how changes-of-state can be registered on atoms via quantum-mechanical qualities such as "spin" and "superposition." Putting readers in the know about quantum computation, Lloyd then informs them that it may well be the answer to physicists' search for a unified theory of everything. Exploring big questions in accessible, comprehensive fashion, Lloyd's work is of vital importance to the general-science audience.<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Universe-Quantum-Computer-Scientist/dp/1400033861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244475402&sr=1-1 Quoted on the Amazon website.]</ref></blockquote>

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/1400033861/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books Additional reviews on Amazon.com]

[[Category:Science books]]