Name: Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
ISBN: 9781575863269

Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About

In the fall of 1999, computer scientist Donald E. Knuth was invited to give six public lectures at MIT on the general subject of relations between faith and science. The lectures were broadcast live on the Internet and watched regularly by tens of thousands of people around the world, and they have remained popular many months after the event. This book contains transcripts of those lectures, edited and annotated by the author. After an introductory first lecture, the second one focusses on the interaction of randomization and religion, since randomization has become a key area of scientific interest during the past few decades. The third lecture considers questions of language translation, with many examples drawn from the author's experiments in which random verses of the Bible were analyzed in depth. The fourth lecture deals with art and aesthetics; it illustrates several ways in which beautiful presentations can greatly deepen our perception of difficult concepts. The fifth lecture discusses what the author learned from the "3:16 project," a personal exploration of Biblical literature which he regards as a turning point in his own life. The sixth and final lecture, "God and Computer Science," is largely independent of the other five. It deals with several new perspectives by which concepts of computer science help to shed light on many ancient and difficult questions previously addressed by scientists in other fields.

What Hacker News says

watersbDec 2022

I've never met Professor Knuth, but he taught me a lesson that I treasure.

I suppose these days the best way I can describe it is that his example "de-weaponized" Christianity for me.

It could be said that religion is like a radioactive material; too much of it all together can go boom.

But Prof Knuth's lesson for me was that I didn't have to leave my mind at the door outside when entering a church. I found his book, "Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About", a series of talks that he gave at an MIT Symposium.

And I don't, much. Talk about these things. And there's lots I don't like about church and the role we seem to press upon it.

But compassion and honesty seem to work pretty good. I'm grateful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Things_a_Computer_Scientist_Ra...

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smitty1eOct 2022

"Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About"?

Highly recommended. Also, "3:16".

These are about the operating system of the soul.

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russnewcomerSep 2022

- The Pragmatic Programmer - helped me see some common pitfalls and figure out how to avoid them. Also gave me some good language for working with others.

- Coders at Work - hearing how some very experienced people thought about software was perspective altering for me in a good way.

- Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks about - Knuth has a depth to him and his thinking that freed me to have depth in my own thinking. While not strictly a software engineering book, the integration of all areas of life was and is inspiring.

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dhosekJun 2021

Perhaps even more interesting is Knuth’s Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About which goes into a bit more of his religious life and how he applies some mathematical techniques (particularly Monte Carlo–style random selection). The genesis of 3:16 (so to speak) is discussed as well.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157586326X/donhosek

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pbiggarDec 2018

The book where he discusses these is also wonderful: "Things a computer scientist rarely talks about".

https://www.amazon.com/Things-Computer-Scientist-Rarely-Lect...

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wrinkl3Nov 2017

Knuth is a unique character. I read the more personal of his books last year, "Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About". It's essentially a transcript of several open lectures he gave at Stanford on topics ranging from his hobbies and side-projects to his thoughts on the Bible and his Christian faith. I've been a staunch atheist for the majority of my life, but seeing Knuth talk so comfortably about his spirituality actually helped me appreciate religion more.

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