Physicist Richard Feynman argued in 1981 that simulating quantum systems on a classical computer is fundamentally hard, and proposed that a computer built from quantum bits rather than classical bits would be needed to do it. This argument is credited as the origin of the field of quantum computation, which the hosts note has since grown into a multi-billion dollar industry with many groups racing to build a functional, scalable quantum computer.
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The transcript opens mid-thought referencing an earlier 'quantum Turing machine' idea that predates Feynman's 1981 argument, but does not name who proposed it or when.
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1:07:27idea of a quantum touring machine. In 1981, a year later, Richard Fineman gave a landmark argument that quantum systems and describing quantum systems with a computer requires a quantum computer where the bits are not classical bits but quantum bits. It birthed the idea of quantum computation which now is a multi-billion dollar industry >> and everyone is rushing >> to be able to build a functional and operational and scalable quantum computer. 1981, the invention of the space shuttle way earlier than many people might believe. >> Yeah. Yeah. Um this is NASA and its principal industrial contractors. They
1:08:09launched the STS1, the space transportation system, which now we call the space shuttle. It's the world's first reusable orbital spacecraft fleet.