Anyways, I really wanted to do this entry before I returned it to the library. One of my clusters for my minor is Computer Science. Now the thing is…I kinda stink at it. I still get good grades, but ask me to actually compose my own functional program in C++ (I’m only a beginner…two classes, the intro and object-oriented *shudder*), I’ll hem and haw…and might be able to do it, but will have to consult my Absolute C++ textbook for much reference. And that’s a big headache. And debugging is not the way I like to spend my afternoons (for a few weeks straight). I will admit that I’m very glad when I successfully [sic] complete a program. Computer science fascinates me, even if I don’t really have the patience or the mindset for it. And I’d much prefer computer science over physics or biology (don’t know why). So if I can’t have music as a cluster with my major, I’ll go with computer science and try to take as many difficult courses every semester as I can before I graduate with my bachelors because I'm a masochist (not). (I almost had three math classes, a computer science class, and a biology class/lab this next semester…but I felt that death would not be welcome so soon, and I took a biology class this summer. So now I just need to survive the three math classes and the computer science class. And the religion class where I get to learn Hebrew and read the Bible in its original language…and that’s my fun optional class.) So, this blog entry is about Donald E. Knuth, an American computer scientist and mathematician.
Donald E. Knuth
Donald Knuth was born January 10,1937 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Early on, Knuth realized that most of the schoolwork required of him from middle school to college consisted mostly of writing and mathematics. (Ain’t that the truth.)
“One of Knuth’s fond memories is the Ziegler’s Candies contest. The manufacturers of the Ziegler’s candy bar sponsored a contest where contestant had to see how many words they could find in the letters in “Ziegler’s Giant Bar.” In the 8th grade, Knuth knew he had a knack for problems like this, so he entered. He told his parents he had a stomachache and for two weeks he stayed home “sick”—all the while poring over an unabridged dictionary finding as many words as possible. Without using the apostrophe, Knuth’s list contained about 4.500 words; there were only 2,500 words on Ziegler’s master list. The grand prize was a television set for the school and enough Ziegler candy bars to feed the entire student body.”
Knuth graduated with the all-time record for grades at his high school. By the time he left high school Knuth was an accomplished mathematician, writer, and musician but was undecided about what he wanted to study in college. He attended the Case Institute of Technology, majoring in physics. It was there that he was first introduced to an IMB 650 computer. He obtained a copy of the manual and studied it cover to cover, which held examples of programs and he knew he could do better. He wrote programs on the old IBM machine that would teach it how to play tic-tac-toe and performing prime number factorization.
Knuth’s interests turned toward mathematics as a sophomore. While taking a course in abstract mathematics, the professor assigned a problem—finding the correct solution would earn the solver an automatic A in the class. Knuth found himself having some extra time (I wish I had that kind of time), and by what he calls “a stroke of luck” was able to solve it. He turned it in, got the A and cut the rest of the class for the semester. (I like this next part.) Knuth’s conscience caught up with him, so when the class was offered the following year, he worked as the class grader. His difficulty with the physics lab classes that were required for his major finally caused him to switch to mathematics. When he received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1960, the faculty made the unprecedented move of awarding him a concurrent Master’s degree in mathematics because of his distinguished work at the university.
Knuth had a fascination with compilers and compiler theory. Knuth’s development of computer science has resulted in the discovery and establishment of many fundamental rules and ideas. The idea of inherited attributes forms the basis for the object-oriented programming techniques that are so prevalent in the computer programming industry. But some of Knuth’s most useful work has been his extensive exploration of different computer algorithms and their efficiency.
Another interest of Knuth’s has been typography. He wrote a paper called “The Letter S” in which he studied the mathematical shape of the letter throughout history and what equations lead to the most aesthetically pleasing letter.
Knuth’s approach to the problems he has tackled in mathematics and computer science are summed up in a quotation from Shasha and Lazere, “It’s not true that necessity is the only mother of invention. The other part is that a person has to have the right background for the problem . . .The ones I solve, I say, ‘Oh, man, I have a unique background that might let me solve it—it’s my destiny, my responsibility.”
Currently, Professor Knuth is Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. And some fun facts from Wiki: In his multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming, to explain the concept, he intentionally referred ‘Circular definition’ and ‘Definition, circular’ to each other in the index. He once warned a correspondent, “Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.” Knuth also used to pay a finder’s fee of $2.56 for any typographical errors or mistakes discovered in his books, because “256 pennies is one hexadecimal dollar”, and $.32 for “valuable suggestions”.
Notable mathematicians from ancient times to the present. Detroit: Gale, 1998.
On a side note, I’ve begun to have the strange urge to start using footnotes. I blame this on a certain blog I’m reading (which I have about a year and a half to catch up on…>_< ). This same blog also inspired the [sic] at the beginning of this entry.
P.S. Now it's 3 PM...and I didn't sleep in (much), but I'm still fully awake and super stoked for my vacation. I always hate the waiting in the airport though. Last time I flew, I was waiting in the airport for more than 5 hours because the plane we were supposed to take had a faulty radio, and we had to wait another three hours for an available plane. And it was snowing (at the place I was arriving). And school started in two days. I had a mental meltdown.
P.P.S. Next time I think I'll go with my instinct to use footnotes if they are needed (and they'll be fun additional things that you can skip over...but then you'll miss the fun).
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