"The Best American Science Writing: 2012," edited by Michio Kaku

"To those who find the Many Worlds Interpretation needlessly baroque, Deutsch writes, 'the quantum theory of parallel universes is not the problem - it is the solution... It is the explanation - the only one that is tenable - of a remarkable and counterintuitive reality.'  The theory also explains how quantum computers might work.  Deutsch told me that a quantum computer would be 'the first technology that allows useful tasks to be performed in collaboration between parallel universes.'  The quantum computer's processing power would come from a kind of outsourcing of work, in which calculations literally take place in other universes.  Entangled particles would function as paths of communication among different universes, sharing information and gathering the results.  So, for example, with the case of Shor's algorithm, Deutsch said, 'When we run such an algorithm, countless instances of us are also running it in other universes (by creating a superposition) and as a result they perform part of the computation on a huge variety of different inputs.  Later, those values affect each other, and thereby all contribute to the final answer, in just such a way that the same answer appears in all the universes.'"

Great, you say in your particular universe, but why is he reviewing the 2012 edition of "The Best American Science Writing"?  Why not the 2013 edition?  The answer, my universal friend, is that the 2013 edition was not available in this universe.  In an adjacent universe, they had the 2013 edition, and I reviewed that one.  Perhaps one day I can view that review on my own quantum computer, and thereby discover whether or not the 2013 edition was superior to the 2012 edition.  Yes, that makes sense.  I think.

This book covers a wide range of science topics, but my favorite articles, save one, fell within the domain of physics.  The two "psychological" articles ("Beautiful Brains" and "Criminal Minds") are pure crap, but the rest of this book is fairly interesting.  As you might have guessed from the above quote, my favorite article was the one about quantum computers.  The article at the very end of the book, "God Knows Where I Am," dealing with mental illness and public policy, is also very good.

I'll be reviewing the 2013 version when I come across it.  Unless another version of myself, writing in another universe, posts it here first!