1. Atoms and the void; 2. Sets; 3. Gödel, Turing, and friends; 4. Minds and machines; 5. Paleocomplexity; 6. P, NP, and friends; 7. Randomness; 8. Crypto; 9. Quantum; 10. Quantum computing; 11. Penrose; 12. Decoherence and hidden variables; 13. Proofs; 14. How big are quantum states?; 15. Skepticism of quantum computing; 16. Learning; 17. Interactive proofs and more; 18. Fun with the Anthropic Principle; 19. Free will; 20. Time travel; 21. Cosmology and complexity; 22. Ask me anything.
Takes students and researchers on a tour through some of the deepest ideas of maths, computer science and physics.
Scott Aaronson is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Considered one of the top quantum complexity theorists in the world, he is well known for both his research in quantum computing and computational complexity theory and for his widely read blog Shtetl-Optimized. Professor Aaronson also created Complexity Zoo, an online encyclopedia of computational complexity theory and has written popular articles for Scientific American and The New York Times. His research and popular writing have earned him numerous awards, including the United States Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and the Alan T. Waterman Award.
'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. [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.' Seth Lloyd, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and 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. [He] 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?' 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, despite Aaronson's trademark breezy writing
style. 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
'Deep and important.' Times Higher Education
'… 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
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