Donald Knuth
I’m once again trying to read through The Art of Computer Programming, and it’s becoming obvious that Donald Knuth knows everything. These books are basically a compilation of beautiful ideas in math and computer science, and everyone who can read them should.
Knuth is a towering figure in computer science, and in particular he’s rather famous (XKCD famous, even) for his work in the analysis of algorithms. He’s also known for the invention of TeX and his renunciation of email.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under books, computer science, math. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
6 Responses to “Donald Knuth”
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ArachneDefiant said on December 17, 2008 at 8:15 am:
How interesting that he has renounced e-mails. Is it simply that he finds them annoying, or is there a deeper philosophical objection?
Harry Schwartz said on December 17, 2008 at 12:55 pm:
Mostly he finds them annoying. In his explanation , he mentions that his work requires long periods of intense concentration, which email doesn’t always allow. He does have an email account, though, and a secretary who brings important messages to his attention.
He also quotes Umberto Eco: “I have reached an age where my main purpose is not to receive messages.”
Harry Schwartz said on December 17, 2008 at 1:00 pm:
Nurr, broken link is broken. Try this one:
http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/email.html
Preston said on December 18, 2008 at 10:29 am:
Do you mean anyone who is capable of reading should read this or anyone who is interested and/or capable of understanding programming should read this?
Harry Schwartz said on December 18, 2008 at 1:28 pm:
To be honest, some previous exposure to programming is probably necessary to really get anything out of these books, and a solid background in college-level math wouldn’t hurt either. They’re pretty technical, but if you speak the language, they’re an absolute delight to read.
By the way, I would suggest that anyone who’s capable of reading is capable of learning to program, given a little time and a good textbook.
ArachneDefiant said on December 19, 2008 at 6:56 am:
So heartening, but you are vastly underestimating my ability to be confused…