• An engaging, mind-bending exploration of the deepest questions about the Universe
• Explores the implications of thinking of the whole Universe in terms of information
• Considers the concept of life as information and death as reaching a state of maximal information
• Explores quantum computing and the bizarre effects that arise from the extraordinary nature of the quantum world
• Challenges our concept of the nature of particles and looks at radical ideas about space, time, and reality
• Considers the ultimate question of where all of the information in the Universe came from, providing exhilarating ideas in the process
• Includes a new foreword from the author reflecting on changes in the world of quantum information since first publication
• Part of the Oxford Landmark Science range: 'must-read' modern science and big ideas, which have shaped the way we think

 
For a physicist, all the world is information. The Universe and its workings are the ebb and flow of information. We are all transient patterns of information, passing on the recipe for our basic forms to future generations using a four-letter digital code called DNA. 

In this engaging and mind-stretching account, Vlatko Vedral considers some of the deepest questions about the Universe and considers the implications of interpreting it in terms of information. He explains the nature of information, the idea of entropy, and the roots of this thinking in thermodynamics. He describes the bizarre effects of quantum behaviour — effects such as 'entanglement', which Einstein called 'spooky action at a distance', and explores cutting edge work on harnessing quantum effects in hyperfast quantum computers, and how recent evidence suggests that the weirdness of the quantum world, once thought limited to the tiniest scales, may reach into the macro world. 

Vedral finishes by considering the answer to the ultimate question: where did all of the information in the Universe come from? The answers he considers are exhilarating, drawing upon the work of distinguished physicist John Wheeler. The ideas challenge our concept of the nature of particles, of time, of determinism, and of reality itself.

This edition includes a new foreword from the author, reflecting on changes in the world of quantum information since first publication. Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.