Chuang and Nielsen have produced the first comprehensive study of quantum
computation. To develop a robust understanding of this subject one must
integrate many ideas whose origins are variously within physics, computer
science, or mathematics. Until this text, putting together the essential
material, much less mastering it, has been a challenge. Our Universe has
intrinsic capabilities and limitations on the processing of information.
What these are will ultimately determine the course of technology and shape
our efforts to find a fundamental physical theory. This book is an
excellent way for any scientist or graduate student - in any of the related
fields - to enter the discussion.
Michael Freedman, Fields Medalist, Microsoft
Nielsen and Chuang's new text is remarkably thorough and up-to-date,
covering many aspects of this rapidly evolving field from a physics
perspective, complementing the computer science perspective of Gruska's
1999 text. The authors have succeeded in producing a self-contained book
accessible to anyone with a good undergraduate background in math, computer
science or physical sciences. An independent student could spend an
enjoyable year reading this book and emerge ready to tackle the current
literature and do serious research. To streamline the exposition,
footnotes have been gathered into short but lively History and Further
Reading sections at the end of each chapter.
Charles H. Bennett, IBM
This is an excellent book. The field is already too big to cover
completely in one book, but Nielsen and Chuang have made a good selection
of topics, and explain the topics they have chosen very well.
Peter Shor, AT&T Research