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Book: Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything Author: Michio Kaku ISBN: 978-0385548366

Chapter 4 is where Kaku traces the path from humble transistors to the wild idea of parallel universes. Honestly, this is the chapter where the book starts clicking for me as an engineer. Not because of the physics itself, but because of the pattern: small ideas, ignored for decades, suddenly becoming the foundation of everything.

This chapter is where Switzerland almost falls apart. Somehow doesn’t though.

By 1520, the Confederacy looked strong. Thirteen cantons, a web of alliances, good treaties with France and the Habsburgs. Swiss mercenaries were feared across Europe. Then the Reformation hit, and for the next 200 years religion became the main source of conflict.

Zwingli lights the fire

Ulrich Zwingli was a priest from the Toggenburg region. Smart guy. Studied in Vienna and Basle. Served as a military chaplain during the Italian Wars, which made him hate mercenary service. In 1518 he became the main preacher in Zurich.

Book: Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything Author: Michio Kaku ISBN: 978-0385548366

Chapter 3 of Quantum Supremacy is where Kaku gets into the actual physics. After two chapters about digital computing and its limits, he goes back to the early 1900s and walks through how quantum mechanics was born. It’s a surprisingly good summary for a popular science book. Not too dumbed down, not too dense. Right in that sweet spot for engineers who want to understand what is actually happening inside a quantum computer.

Retelling of Chapter 2 from A Concise History of Switzerland by Clive H. Church and Randolph C. Head (Cambridge University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-521-14382-0). If you find this interesting, grab the book. Well worth reading.

The setup

Around 1400, the Swiss Confederacy was still a loose collection of rural and urban communes. Some mutual defense pacts. A few battle victories. Nobody in Europe took them seriously as a political force.

Book: Quantum Supremacy: How the Quantum Computer Revolution Will Change Everything Author: Michio Kaku ISBN: 978-0385548366

Chapter 2 of Quantum Supremacy takes us through the entire history of computing in about 30 pages. Kaku starts from the ancient Greeks and goes all the way to Alan Turing and the birth of artificial intelligence. For engineers who work with computers every day, this chapter is a solid reminder of how we got here and what fundamental limits still apply to everything we build.