Computer History Museum

Knuth, Donald oral history

In this wide-ranging interview conducted by Edward Feigenbaum, Donald Knuth talks about the progression of his life and career. Topics include his family background and early interest in music, physics and mathematics, his first exposure to programming, finding a mentor, and writing a doctoral thesis. He describes how "The Art of Computer Programming" became "the story of my life", and why it was put on hold for the TeX and METAFONT projects. He also talks about personal work habits, programming style, analysis of algorithms, the influence of religion in his life, and his advice to the next generation of scientists.

Item Details

Date
2007-03-14 (Made)
2007-03-21 (Made)
Type
Document
Catalogue number
102658053
Organization
Computer History Museum
People
Donald E. Knuth (Interviewee)
Yan Rosenshteyn (Videographer)
Edward Feigenbaum (Interviewer)
Category
Transcript
Extent
73 p.
Place of publication
USA/CA/Mountain View
Language
English
Acquisition number
X3926.2007
Subject
IBM 650 (Computer), Stanford University, Analysis of Algorithms, TeX, Fellow Award Honoree
Archive collection
Oral history collection
Archive hierarchy
CHM Oral History Collection