The textbook definition of quantum bits—or qubits—is that they are the fundamental units of information in a quantum computer, and have more than just the two states of zero and one. And should you read a quantum computing textbook, you would learn about how qubits work and how to construct circuits that perform various algorithms.

Bob Sutor, vice president of IBM Q strategy and ecosystem for IBM Research, says these textbooks explain how qubits last forever, do exactly what they’re supposed to