Citizendia

Donald Ervin Knuth
Donald Knuth at a reception for the Open Content Alliance, 25 October 2005
Donald Knuth at a reception for the Open Content Alliance, 25 October 2005
BornJanuary 10, 1938 (1938-01-10) (age 70)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
ResidenceU.S.
Nationality US
FieldsComputer science
InstitutionsStanford University
Alma materCase Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
Doctoral advisorMarshall Hall, Jr.
Doctoral studentsScott Kim
Vaughan Pratt
Robert Sedgewick
Jeffrey Vitter
Bernard Marcel Mont-Reynaud
Known forThe Art of Computer Programming
TeX, METAFONT
Knuth–Morris–Pratt algorithm
Knuth-Bendix completion algorithm
MMIX
Notable awardsJohn von Neumann Medal (1995)
Turing Award (1974)
Kyoto Prize (1996)
Religious stanceChristian

Donald Ervin Knuth (pronounced /kəˈnuːθ/[1]) (b. The Open Content Alliance (OCA is a consortium of non-profit and for-profit groups dedicated to building a free archive of digital text and multimedia Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother" It was used in Ancient Rome as a title for the mother Goddess, and in Medieval Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland Ohio, United States, with some residence halls on the south end of campus The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement Marshall Hall Jr ( 17 September 1910, St Louis Missouri &ndash 4 July 1990, London) was an American Scott Kim is an American puzzle and computer game designer artist and author Vaughan Ronald Pratt (born 1944 a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, was one of the earliest pioneers in the field of Computer science. Robert Sedgewick is the author of the celebrated book series Algorithms, published by Addison-Wesley. Jeffrey Scott Vitter (born 1955 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is the provost and executive vice president for academics at Texas A&M University. The Art of Computer Programming is a comprehensive Monograph written by Donald Knuth that covers many kinds of Programming Algorithms TeX (ˈtɛx as in Greek, often /ˈtɛk/ in English; written with a lowercase 'e' in imitation of the logo is a Typesetting system designed and mostly Metafont is a Programming language used to define vector fonts. The Knuth–Morris–Pratt String searching algorithm The Knuth-Bendix completion algorithm is an Algorithm for transforming a set of Equations (over Terms) into a confluent Term rewriting system MMIX may also refer to the year 2009, in Roman numerals. MMIX (pronounced em-mix) is a 64-bit RISC The IEEE John von Neumann Medal was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1990 and may be presented annually "for outstanding achievements in computer-related science The A M Turing Award is given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing The Kyoto Prize (京都賞 has been awarded annually since 1984 by the Inamori Foundation, founded by Kazuo Inamori. 10 January 1938) is a renowned computer scientist and Professor Emeritus of the Art of Computer Programming[2] at Stanford University. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their The meaning of the word professor ( Latin: professor, person who professes to be an expert in some art or science teacher of highest rank) varies Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in

Author of the seminal multi-volume work The Art of Computer Programming[3] ("TAOCP"), Knuth has been called the "father" of the analysis of algorithms, contributing to the development of, and systematizing formal mathematical techniques for, the rigorous analysis of the computational complexity of algorithms, and in the process popularizing asymptotic notation. The Art of Computer Programming is a comprehensive Monograph written by Donald Knuth that covers many kinds of Programming Algorithms In mathematics big O notation (so called because it uses the symbol O) describes the limiting behavior of a function for very small or very large arguments

In addition to fundamental contributions in several branches of theoretical computer science, Knuth is also the creator of the TeX computer typesetting system, the related METAFONT font definition language and rendering system, and the Computer Modern family of typefaces. Theoretical computer science is the collection of topics of Computer science that focuses on the more abstract logical and mathematical aspects of Computing, such TeX (ˈtɛx as in Greek, often /ˈtɛk/ in English; written with a lowercase 'e' in imitation of the logo is a Typesetting system designed and mostly Metafont is a Programming language used to define vector fonts. Computer Modern is the family of Typefaces used by default by the typesetting program TeX.

A prolific writer and scholar[4], Knuth is also creator of the WEB/CWEB computer programming systems designed to encourage and facilitate literate programming, as well as designer of the MMIX instruction set architecture. WEB is a Computer programming system created by Donald E Knuth as the first implementation of what he called " Literate programming " the CWEB is a Computer programming system created by Donald Knuth and Silvio Levy as a follow up to Knuth's WEB Literate programming system Literate programming is a philosophy of Computer programming based on the premise that a Computer program should be written similar to Literature, with MMIX may also refer to the year 2009, in Roman numerals. MMIX (pronounced em-mix) is a 64-bit RISC An instruction set is a list of all the instructions and all their variations that a processor can execute

Contents

Education and academic work

Knuth was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his father owned a small printing business and taught bookkeeping at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, which he attended. Milwaukee Lutheran High School (MLHS is a Secondary school located in Milwaukee Wisconsin that was originally part of Lutheran High School (LHS He was an excellent student, earning achievement awards. He applied his intelligence in unconventional ways, winning a contest when he was in eighth grade by finding over 4,500 words that could be formed from the letters in "Ziegler's Giant Bar. " This won him a television set for his school and a candy bar for everyone in his class.

Knuth had a difficult time choosing physics over music as his major at Case Institute of Technology (now part of Case Western Reserve University). Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland Ohio, United States, with some residence halls on the south end of campus Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland Ohio, United States, with some residence halls on the south end of campus He then switched from physics to mathematics, and in 1960 he received his bachelor of science degree, simultaneously receiving his master of science degree by a special award of the faculty who considered his work outstanding. At Case, he managed the basketball team and applied his talents by constructing a formula for the value of each player. This novel approach was covered by Newsweek and by Walter Cronkite on the CBS television network. Newsweek is an American weekly Newsmagazine published in New York City. Walter Leland Cronkite Jr (born November 4 1916) is a retired American broadcast journalist, best known as Anchorman for the [5]

While doing graduate studies, Knuth worked as a consultant, writing compilers for different computers. In 1963, he earned a Ph. D. in mathematics (advisor: Marshall Hall) from the California Institute of Technology, where he became a professor and began work on The Art of Computer Programming, originally planned to be a single book, and then planned as a six, and then seven-volume series. Marshall Hall Jr ( 17 September 1910, St Louis Missouri &ndash 4 July 1990, London) was an American The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena The Art of Computer Programming is a comprehensive Monograph written by Donald Knuth that covers many kinds of Programming Algorithms In 1968, he published the first volume. That same year, he joined the faculty of Stanford University. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in

In 1971, Knuth was the recipient of the first ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award. The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational Computing society The original Grace Murray Hopper Awards (named for computer pioneer RDML Grace Hopper) have been awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM He has received various other awards including the Turing Award, the National Medal of Science, the John von Neumann Medal and the Kyoto Prize. The A M Turing Award is given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in Science and Engineering who have made important The IEEE John von Neumann Medal was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1990 and may be presented annually "for outstanding achievements in computer-related science The Kyoto Prize (京都賞 has been awarded annually since 1984 by the Inamori Foundation, founded by Kazuo Inamori. After producing the third volume of his series in 1976, he expressed such frustration with the nascent state of the then newly developed electronic publishing tools (esp. those which provided input to phototypesetters) that he took time out to work on typesetting and created the TeX and METAFONT tools. TeX (ˈtɛx as in Greek, often /ˈtɛk/ in English; written with a lowercase 'e' in imitation of the logo is a Typesetting system designed and mostly Metafont is a Programming language used to define vector fonts.

In recognition of Knuth's contributions to the field of computer science, in 1990 he was awarded the singular academic title of Professor of The Art of Computer Programming, which has since been revised to Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming. Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Emeritus (ɨˈmɛrɨtəs is an Adjective that is used in the title of a retired Professor, Bishop or other professional

In 1992 he became an associate of the French Academy of Sciences. The French Academy of Sciences ( French: Académie des sciences) is a Learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the Also that year, he retired from regular research and teaching at Stanford University in order to finish The Art of Computer Programming. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in The Art of Computer Programming is a comprehensive Monograph written by Donald Knuth that covers many kinds of Programming Algorithms In 2003 he was elected as a foreign member of the Royal Society. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 As of 2004, the first three volumes of his series have been re-issued, and Knuth is currently working on volume four, excerpts of which are released periodically on his website. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Meanwhile, Knuth gives informal lectures a few times a year at Stanford University, which he calls Computer Musings. Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University or simply Stanford, is a private Research university located in He is also a visiting professor at the Oxford University Computing Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The Oxford University Computing Laboratory ( OUCL) is the Computer science department at Oxford University in England. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

In addition to his writings on computer science, Knuth, a devout Lutheran,[6] is also the author of 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated (1991), ISBN 0-89579-252-4, in which he attempts to examine the Bible by a process of stratified sampling, namely an analysis of chapter 3, verse 16 of each book. In Statistics, stratified sampling is a method of sampling from a population Each verse is accompanied by a rendering in calligraphic art, contributed by a group of calligraphers under the leadership of Hermann Zapf. Hermann Zapf (born November 8, 1918) is a German Typeface designer who lives in Darmstadt, Germany

He is also the author of Surreal Numbers (1974) ISBN 0-201-03812-9, a mathematical novelette on John Conway's set theory construction of an alternate system of numbers. John Conway may refer to John B Conway, mathematician functional analyst George Washington University John Horton Conway, mathematician Instead of simply explaining the subject, the book seeks to show the development of the mathematics. Knuth wanted the book to prepare students for doing original, creative research.

On January 1, 1990, Knuth announced to his colleagues that he would no longer have an email address, so that he may concentrate on his work. Knuth is a fan of Wikipedia, but he's a bit leery of the concept, saying that he would not want to have to remain forever on guard after making technically complex contributions, lest his comments be badly reedited.

In 2006, Knuth was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He underwent surgery in December that year and started "a little bit of radiation therapy [. . . ] as a precaution but the prognosis looks pretty good," as he reported in his video autobiography.

Awards

Knuth's humor

Knuth is a famous programmer known for his professional humor. The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational Computing society The original Grace Murray Hopper Awards (named for computer pioneer RDML Grace Hopper) have been awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM The A M Turing Award is given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in Science and Engineering who have made important The IEEE John von Neumann Medal was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1990 and may be presented annually "for outstanding achievements in computer-related science The Technion &ndash Israel Institute of Technology (הטכניון &ndash מכון טכנולוגי לישראל is an internationally-acclaimed Institute of technology in The Kyoto Prize (京都賞 has been awarded annually since 1984 by the Inamori Foundation, founded by Kazuo Inamori. This is a list of Programmers notable for their contributions to software either as original author or architect or for later additions

One of Knuth's reward checks
One of Knuth's reward checks

Works

A short list of his works[9]:

  1. Volume 1: Fundamental Algorithms (3rd edition), 1997. The Art of Computer Programming is a comprehensive Monograph written by Donald Knuth that covers many kinds of Programming Algorithms Addison-Wesley Professional, ISBN 0-201-89683-4
  2. Volume 2: Seminumerical Algorithms (3rd Edition), 1997. Addison-Wesley Professional, ISBN 0-201-89684-2
  3. Volume 3: Sorting and Searching (2nd Edition), 1998. Addison-Wesley Professional, ISBN 0-201-89685-0
  4. Volume 4: Combinatorial Algorithms, in preparation
  1. Volume 1, Fascicle 1: MMIX — A RISC Computer for the New Millennium, 2005. MMIX may also refer to the year 2009, in Roman numerals. MMIX (pronounced em-mix) is a 64-bit RISC ISBN 0-201-85392-2
  2. Volume 4, Fascicle 0: Introduction to Combinatorial Algorithms and Boolean Functions. 2008. ISBN 0-321-53496-4
  3. Volume 4, Fascicle 1: in preparation.
  4. Volume 4, Fascicle 2: Generating All Tuples and Permutations, 2005. ISBN 0-201-85393-0
  5. Volume 4, Fascicle 3: Generating All Combinations and Partitions, 2005. ISBN 0-201-85394-9
  6. Volume 4, Fascicle 4: Generating All Trees -- History of Combinatorial Generation, 2006. ISBN 0-321-33570-8
  1. Donald E. Knuth, Literate Programming (Center for the Study of Language and Information - Lecture Notes), 1992. ISBN 0-937073-80-6
  2. Donald E. Knuth, Selected Papers on Computer Science (Stanford, California: Center for the Study of Language and Information - CSLI Lecture Notes, no. 59), 1996. ISBN 1-881526-91-7
  3. Donald E. Knuth, Digital Typography (Stanford, California: Center for the Study of Language and Information - CSLI Lecture Notes, no. 78), 1999. ISBN 1-57586-010-4
  4. Donald E. Knuth, Selected Papers on Analysis of Algorithms (Stanford, California: Center for the Study of Language and Information - CSLI Lecture Notes, no. 102), 2000. ISBN 1-57586-212-3
  5. Donald E. Knuth, Selected Papers on Computer Languages (Stanford, California: Center for the Study of Language and Information - CSLI Lecture Notes, no. 139), 2003. ISBN 1-57586-381-2 (cloth), ISBN 1-57586-382-0 (paperback)
  6. Donald E. Knuth, Selected Papers on Discrete Mathematics (Stanford, California: Center for the Study of Language and Information - CSLI Lecture Notes, no. 106), 2003. ISBN 1-57586-249-2 (cloth), ISBN 1-57586-248-4 (paperback)
  7. Donald E. Knuth, Selected Papers on Design of Algorithms (publication planned after Vol 4 Fasc 1)
  8. Donald E. Knuth, Selected Papers on Fun and Games (publication planned after Vol 4 Fasc 1)

Interviews and lectures

References

  1. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions" at Stanford site. Gives the pronunciation of his name as "Ka-NOOTH".
  2. ^ http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/.
  3. ^ http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~uno/taocp.html.
  4. ^ Knuth's CV
  5. ^ Kenneth H. Rosen, Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications 4th Ed. , McGraw-Hill. 1999. p. 82
  6. ^ Love at First Byte. Stanford Magazine, May/June 2006.
  7. ^ "Rewriting the Bible in 0's and 1's" in the Technology Review of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  8. ^ "Pipe Organ" at Stanford site
  9. ^ A complete list is also available: "Books" at Stanford site
  10. ^ "Selected Papers" at Stanford site

See also

External links

Persondata
NAMEKnuth, Donald Ervin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTIONComputer science
DATE OF BIRTH10 January 1938 (1938-01-10) (age 70)
PLACE OF BIRTHMilwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Computer science (or computing science) is the study and the Science of the theoretical foundations of Information and Computation and their Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
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