The origin of the term “qubit”

The term “qubit” was invented by Professors Benjamin Schumacher (Kenyon College) and William Wootters (Williams College).

He tells the story of this day, in the course listed below. Both were driving, going to the airport in May 1992, discussing quantum information. In the discussions, a comment arose, more like a joke, “it may be necessary to create a new unit of measurement for quantum information.”

Then came the idea of a qubit. They found the term extremely funny. Because a cubit is a unit of measurement in the old Middle East.

“Noah’s Ark in the Bible is 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits height”.

They found it hilarious, but it was a good idea, and then they started introducing the term into the academic world.

Source: TTC Video Quantum Mechanics — The physics of the Microscopic World