Quantum Supremacy by Michio Kaku
May 5, 2025
Quantum computing is a topic that interests me quite a lot. I like both computer science and physics (even though my physics knowledge comes no where near what is needed to deeply understand quantum theory) so this was a book that seemed like a good introduction for me to start getting a little bit more in depth with this topic. While this book was a good introduction for the first section, it started straying further and further from quantum theory/computing and more into the problems of the world. While, I can see how the problems can fuel inspiration for research, at a certain point it felt like we weren't talking about quantum computers but rather a general "what could we do with more computing power" with no guidance to what kind of computing. It felt short of explaining the specifics and played on the imagination of the reader. This wasn't necessarily what I was expecting towards the end of the book based on the first section.
I read a review by Scott Aaronson at the beginning of this book and thought to myself "wow this guy is such a hater". I reread it, now having read the book, and I still think that. BUT I can now see that he made some valid points in his critique. He did link two YouTube videos explaining quantum computing, saying that Kaku completely overestimates the capabilities of quantum computing, and that these videos are more realistic. Sooooo, I'm excited to watch them and see what parts I was missing from the book. Aaronson also pointed out how Kaku is not very knowledgable about quantum computing, and did not do enough research with people actively studying the field, which I now agree with. It seems like there were a lot of pieces missing, and more so focused on physics explanations of outerwordly natures than the computer itself. While I see how these are related, I do wish it was more about the computer itself.
I also read reviews on this book ranging from complaints about not being technical enough (which personally I would love to see) to people being upset about Kaku not explaining current day digital computers. I think writing a book like this is hard to pinpoint your audience and to satisfy everyone because I can see how not only Computer Science graduates will read this. However, I do think it's silly to pick up a quantum computer book and expect the author to explain digital computers in depth. It's kind of like picking up a calculus book and expecting it to go over algebra.