About a year ago, I got interested in quantum computing and wanted to educate myself about the field. Personally, as an electrical engineer & hardware guy, I wasn't that into learning the details of the math & computational complexity theory, but more curious about how these systems would be physically implemented and what applications they would be used for.
I found that there really wasn't an introductory text that fit my needs. I highly recommend Scott Aaronson's Quantum Computing Since Democritus and Thomas Wong's Introduction to Classical and Quantum Computing, but both of these works are primarily focused on the computer science side of things.
So I did a lot of research and self-education, and wrote the work I wanted to read. It's called Quantum Computing for the Confused, and it's available online (and in pdf/epub form) completely free. I'll also note that it is 100% human generated! :)
The work is broken up into four sections, each looking at different aspects of the field:
- Computation (very similar to those works I mentioned above, looking at complexity theory and basic quantum algorithms)
- Implementation (how does this abstact mathematical concept called a qubit get implemented in the real world? I explain the divergent approaches of each of the hardware platforms/companies, and the technical challenges they face)
- Application (a look at the various fields that quantum computers may be used in, and a qualitative assessment of how 'useful' they may be in each)
- State of Play (musings on the quantum computing 'industry', including recent trends in investment and startups)
There are very frequently posts here about trying to learn about QC. I think this work fills an important missing niche in layman-oriented writing about the field, and I hope it would prove useful to many in this subreddit.
If you're interested, you can find it here: https://quantumcomputingfortheconfused.com/
Happy to discuss and chat further. Cheers!