The origin of the no cloning theorem is quite fascinating. You can download the paper that led to it’s creation here: FLASH — A Superluminal Communicator Based Upon a New Kind of Quantum Measurement.

According to T. De Angelis, et al.:

Nick Herbert proposed in

1981 a feasible experimental scheme, i.e. a FLASH ma-

chine, the acronym standing for ”First Laser-Amplified

Superluminal Hookup.” The proposal, based on the

amplification by stimulated emission of a photon in an en-

tangled state, elicited a debate among theorists leading at

last to the formulation of the quantum ”no-cloning theo-

rem.”

Asher Peres, “the referee who approved the publication of Nick Herbert’s FLASH paper,” also cites the FLASH paper as the catalyst for the no-cloning theorem.

What makes this fascinating to me is that Nick Herbert wasn’t trying to create a “no cloning theorem.” In fact, he was trying to do precisely the opposite. He was proposing a way to exploit cloning to achieve superluminal communication.

Ironically, in not achieving his goal, he advanced the field of quantum mechanics. The lesson here seems to be one of encouragement: go ahead and submit your ideas; even if you’re wrong you might still end up making a contribution.

This, by the way, is the type of thing that I learn when I read one paper per day.