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Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse
Book

Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse

The Quest for the Quantum Computer

Julian Brown
Simon & Schuster, 2000

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

If you’re the type of reader who loves to devour an entire book on a rainy day, you’d better wait for a Noah-size deluge before tackling Minds, Machines, and the Multiverse. Wet or dry, you will marvel at author Julian Brown’s encyclopedic knowledge. He uses charts, graphs and the occasional equation to try to make the inscrutable plain. However, unless reversibility, the Fredkin Gate and the von Neumann machine mean something to you, the essence of Brown’s narrative may elude you, beyond rough translation. He explains the possibility that the notion of alternative universes can be used to create a quantum computer that would be far more powerful than any computer heretofore. Brown persistently reveals possibilities that seem like dreams. getAbstract.com recommends his book to those who strive for news heights of techie theory or who think of physics as a hobby. Though fascinating, it may leave mere mortals feeling uncertain and somewhat overwhelmed.

Take-Aways

  • Quantum-based physics promises unimaginably powerful information processing.
  • Quantum computing offers a complete scientific and social revolution, representing a bigger technological leap than the one from the abacus to the supercomputer.
  • While quantum computing appears unimaginably powerful, it is not flexible.

About the Author

Julian Brown  specializes in physics and computing as a science journalist. New Science Magazine has featured his work prominently, and he has produced science specials for BBC and BBC World Service. He teamed up with Paul Davies to edit The Ghost in the Atom and Superstrings: A Theory of Everything.

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