Sign-In
Cart
The Uncertain Machine
Paperback
Publisher: E.B Cohen
Published: Aug 2 2026
Pages: 506
Weight: 1.09
Height: 1.13 Width: 5.00 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
A quantum computer does not compute the way any machine before it has computed. It stores information not as definite ones and zeros but as superpositions - blends of possibility held in suspension, made to interfere like waves, and collapsed into a single answer only at the instant you look. In the middle years of the 2020s, machines cooled to a hair above absolute zero are doing calculations that the largest supercomputers on earth could not finish before the sun burns out - and cryptographers are racing to replace the locks of the internet before these machines can break them.
This is the whole story, told whole: the failure of classical physics that cracked open the quantum world; the reclusive theorists and irrepressible showmen - Feynman, Deutsch, Shor - who dreamed the machine into being on paper; the thirty-year struggle to build it out of trapped ions, superconducting circuits, atoms held in light, and single particles of light; the near-miraculous invention of quantum error correction; the bitter supremacy wars over who had really beaten the classical competition; and the coming reckoning of Q-Day, when a large enough quantum computer will render today's encryption obsolete.
Written for the intelligent reader with no mathematics required, E.B Cohen tells the story of quantum computing honestly - neither the imminent miracle of the press releases nor the hoax of the debunkers, but a real and profound achievement, still short of usefulness, its ultimate destination genuinely unknown.
Also from
Cohen, E. B.
Also in
Physics
The Formative Years of Relativity: The History and Meaning of Einstein's Princeton Lectures
Renn, Jürgen
Gutfreund, Hanoch
Hardcover
Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
Kaku, Michio
Hardcover
How It All Works: All Scientific Laws and Phenomena Illustrated & Demonstrated
Clegg, Brian
Dant, Adam
Hardcover
Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of Planets Around the Sun [With CDROM]
Goodstein, David L.
Paperback
The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie
Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda
Hardcover
Lost in Space: 5,000 Facts for Navigating the Universe
Tyson, Neil Degrasse
Walker, Lindsey Nyx
Hardcover
5 Steps to a 5: AP Physics 1 2027: Practice AP Tests + AP Content Review + Digital Exams
Jacobs, Greg
Paperback
Just Visiting This Planet, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: Further Scientific Adventures of Merlin from Omniscia
Tyson, Neil Degrasse
Hardcover
What If? 10th Anniversary Edition: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Munroe, Randall
Hardcover
Astronomy 101, 2nd Edition: From Gravitational Waves and Merging Black Holes to New Exoplanets and Asteroid Samples, Key Theories, Discoveries, and Fa
Petersen, Carolyn Collins
Hardcover
Beyond Darwin: How Epigenetics, Quantum Science, and Cooperation Shape Humanity's Future
Lipton, Bruce H.
Hardcover
My Big TOE Awakening Discovery Inner Workings: The Complete My Big TOE Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics and Metaphysics
Campbell, Thomas
Hardcover
Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher
Leighton, Robert B.
Sands, Matthew
Feynman, Richard P.
Paperback
Time's Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature
Wong, Michael L.
Hazen, Robert M.
Hardcover
What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Munroe, Randall
Hardcover
A New Science of Heaven: How the New Science of Plasma Physics Is Shedding Light on Spiritual Experience
Temple, Robert
Paperback
Princeton Review AP Physics 1 Premium Prep, 13th Edition: 5 Practice Tests + Digital Practice Online + Content Review
The Princeton Review
Paperback
Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter (Large Print Edition)
Tyson, Neil DeGrasse
Hardcover
The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred
Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda
Paperback
Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons
Pendle, George
Paperback
Do Aliens Speak Physics?: And Other Questions about Science and the Nature of Reality
Warner, Andy
Whiteson, Daniel
Hardcover
AP Physics 1 Premium, 2027: Prep Book with 4 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice
Rideout, Kenneth, M. S.
Wolf, Jonathan, M. a. Ed M.
Paperback
American Prometheus (Pulitzer Prize Winner): The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture Oppenheimer
Sherwin, Martin J.
Bird, Kai
Paperback
Graph Paper Notebook 1/4 inch squares: Graph Paper Composition Book For Children and Women 8 x 10 inch, 122 Pages
Warren, Leann S.
Paperback
AP Physics 1 Premium, 2026: Prep Book with 4 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice
Wolf, Jonathan, M. a. Ed M.
Rideout, Kenneth, M. S.
Paperback
The Montauk Project - Experiments in Time: Silver Anniversary Edition
Moon, Peter
Nichols, Preston B.
Paperback
Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance, 7th Edition: The World's Best-Selling Guide to Mountain Bike Repair
Zinn, Lennard
Paperback
The Black Book of Manifestation: Hidden Secrets & Forbidden Techniques to Shape Your Reality
Sharma, Sagar
Paperback
The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism
Capra, Fritjof
Paperback
Quantum Physics and Higher Consciousness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Reality and Awakening Your Inner Power
Silva, Mari
Hardcover
Introduction to Live Sound Reinforcement: The Science, the Art, and the Practice
Boyce, Teddy
Paperback
Why Nobody Understands Quantum Physics: The Story of the Science That Shapes Our World
Broeckaert, Céline
Verstraete, Frank
Hardcover
Ways of Being: Animals, Plants, Machines: The Search for a Planetary Intelligence
Bridle, James
Paperback
From Shiva to Schrödinger: Unravelling Cosmic Secrets with Trika Shaivism & Quantum Insights
Majumdar, Mrittunjoy Guha
Paperback
Quantum Mechanics Done Right: The Shortest Path from Novice to Researcher
Freericks, James K.
Hardcover
Smithsonian Atlas of Space: A Map to the Universe from the Big Bang to the Future
Launius, Roger D.
Hardcover
Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance, 6th Edition: The World's Best-Selling Bicycle Repair and Maintenance Guide
Zinn, Lennard
Paperback
The Montauk Project - Experiments in Time: Silver Anniversary Edition
Nichols, Preston B.
Moon, Peter
Hardcover
My Big TOE Awakening Discovery Inner Workings: The Complete My Big TOE Trilogy Unifying Philosophy, Physics, and Metaphysics
Campbell, Thomas
Paperback
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory
Greene, Brian
Paperback
Do Your Ears Pop in Space? and 500 Other Surprising Questions about Space Travel
Mullane, R. Mike
Paperback
Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's Relativity, Symmetry, and Space-Time
Leighton, Robert B.
Sands, Matthew
Feynman, Richard P.
Paperback
A Brief Welcome to the Universe: A Pocket-Sized Tour
Strauss, Michael A.
Tyson, Neil Degrasse
Gott, J. Richard
Paperback
Rocket Dreams: Musk, Bezos, and the Inside Story of the New, Trillion-Dollar Space Race
Davenport, Christian
Hardcover
The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes--And Its Implications
Deutsch, David
Paperback
Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour
Strauss, Michael A.
Gott, J. Richard
Tyson, Neil Degrasse
Hardcover
The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics
Hrabovsky, George
Susskind, Leonard
Paperback
Cosmos and Transcendence: Breaking Through the Barrier of Scientistic Belief
Smith, Wolfgang
Paperback
Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel Through Time
Gott, J. Richard
Paperback
The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla and Other Works (Deluxe Leatherbound Edition)
Martin, Thomas Commerford
Tesla, Nikola
Hardcover
Signals from the Subatomic World: How to Build a Proton Precession Magnetometer
Hollos, Stefan
Hollos, Richard
Paperback
Fundamentals of Astrodynamics: Second Edition
White, Jerry E.
Bate, Roger R.
Mueller, Donald D.
Paperback
There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness: And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the World
Rovelli, Carlo
Paperback
Let's Review Regents: Physical Science- Physics, Sixth Edition (Barron's NY Regents)
Tarendash, Albert, M. S.
Lazar, Miriam A., M. S.
Paperback
Regents Exams and Answers Physical Science Physics Sixth Edition (Barron's New York Regents)
Lazar, Miriam, M. S. Ed
Paperback
Alchemy of Nine Dimensions: Activating the Full Spectrum of Consciousness
Clow, Barbara Hand
Paperback
Unseen Universe: Space as You've Never Seen It Before from the James Webb Space Telescope
Harper, Caroline
Hardcover
The One Thing You Need to Know: The Simple Way to Understand the Most Important Ideas in Science
Chown, Marcus
Paperback
The Sound Atlas: A Guide to Strange Sounds Across Landscapes and Imagination
Yuen, Isaac
Vieser, Michaela
Hardcover
Cosmic Queries: Startalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going
Tyson, Neil DeGrasse
Hardcover
AP Physics C Premium, Eighth Edition: 4 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice (2026)
Farkas, Joshua, M. D.
Pelcovits, Robert A., PH. D.
Paperback
Princeton Review AP Physics C Premium Prep, 19th Edition: 4 Practice Tests + Digital Practice Online + Content Review
The Princeton Review
Paperback
Collisions: A Physicist's Journey from Hiroshima to the Death of the Dinosaurs
Nevala-Lee, Alec
Hardcover
Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A Journey to the Edge of Physics
Padilla, Antonio
Paperback
Sciencia: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy for All
Watkins, Matthew
Betts, Moff
Tweed, Matt
Hardcover
The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era--A Celebration of the Unfol
Swimme, Brian
Paperback
Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A Straightforward Summary of the 21st Century's Only Plausible Metaphysics
Kastrup, Bernardo
Paperback
Relativity: The Special and the General Theory - 100th Anniversary Edition
Einstein, Albert
Paperback
Scale: The Universal Laws of Life, Growth, and Death in Organisms, Cities, and Companies
West, Geoffrey
Paperback