  Quantum Computing is a new and exciting field at the intersection of
mathematics, computer science and physics. It concerns a utilization of quantum
mechanics to improve the efficiency of computation. Here we present a gentle
introduction to some of the ideas in quantum computing. The paper begins by
motivating the central ideas of quantum mechanics and quantum computation with
simple toy models. From there we move on to a formal presentation of the small
fraction of (finite dimensional) quantum mechanics that we will need for basic
quantum computation. Central notions of quantum architecture (qubits and
quantum gates) are described. The paper ends with a presentation of one of the
simplest quantum algorithms: Deutsch's algorithm. Our presentation demands
neither advanced mathematics nor advanced physics.
