By the beginning of 1908, even as such academic stars as
Max Planck and Wilhelm Wien were writing to ask for his insights,
Einstein had tempered his aspirations to be a university professor.
Instead, he had begun, believe it or not, to seek work as a high school teacher.
—WALTER ISAACSON, (Einstein: His Life and Universe, 149)
we hope these letters find you! I’ve been thinking about contacting you for a few years. The fact that I’m only now risking my reputation, what little there is of it, is exceptional for me. Pat Gelsinger, the rogue disciple of John Hennessy, will have to savor this instance of impedance. Should the two of you meet, again perhaps—in this life or a subsequent one—I’m sure he would be happy to elucidate my comment.
Thank you, Professor Knuth, for all that you’ve done. Shamelessly snaffling your words again: I can’t help but be overwhelmed by an enormous feeling of gratitude. I’m nearly at a loss for words to describe the transcendental glow that fills me at this moment. What a miracle it has been, to have been able to live my life, earn a living—first as a computer programmer and now as a teacher with the opportunity to communicate my love of computer programming to my students—and write to you now, at a time when you are treading the face of the earth, in the same language you use to write your books.
I am a high school computer science teacher in my first year of teaching at Valley Catholic High School in Beaverton, Oregon, where siblings (of each other) and dear friends (of mine and each other), Kipp Johnson and Marty Karlin also teach. Kipp factors into this monologue in a couple of interesting ways. Marty’s last name might be familiar to you, since her father-in-law is the late Sam Karlin, who I suspect you knew or at least know of due to his work and influence as a math professor at Stanford. Marty’s husband, Manny—who like our own daughter, Dr. Xiang Gao, is a medical doctor—is Professor Anna Karlin’s brother. Anna, you might recall, served on the prize committee for the 15th Knuth Prize. Although I’ve yet to meet Anna in person or receive any sort of correspondence from her, I have enjoyed her husband, Evan Cohn’s company and stories immensely. Both Evan and Anna studied under Professor Ullman, who is one of the authors of the textbook we used in my first data structures and algorithms course at Purdue University. Evan and I worked at Intel Corporation for approximately the same amount of time; he caught the wave a little earlier than I did and at a higher starting position and hence was able to exit sooner and with more points that I was able to amass, I bet. It’s fitting that he now lectures periodically at investment club meetings held during lunch time at Valley Catholic High School.
Pastiche, like programming, is attractive to me. Enclosed are a few examples I’ve created that you might enjoy. I suppose the most orthodox among us could view as sacrilege my celebration of the creation of The Art of Computer Programming. (I’m not very orthodox.) Another piece is about a programming project I was privileged to participate in near the end of my twenty years of being employed by Intel Corporation. It’s also about what I felt it was like to ride the waves of a career in IT as described so well by Herman Melville in chapter 107 of Moby Dick. You’re the second person to whom I’ve given one of the dozen or so copies I narcissistically printed.
Recently I watched a video of you reenacting your first lecture at Stanford, originally given in the year of my birth, in which you reveal the amazing connections between Stirling numbers and generating functions and the analysis of an algorithm as simple as one used to find the maximum value in a sequence. I have memories of learning about arrays and lists and trees and so on at Purdue. But I don’t recall ever being shown the relevance of Stirling numbers to the analysis of an algorithm. (Maybe I skipped or was sleeping during that lecture.) I often feel, when I’m reading your books, that students and professionals who don’t read them, like people who stay indoors too much, are missing out on many wonderful, beautiful things.
Soon I have to make decisions about what textbooks to use next year in the two classes I teach. Maybe I have a screw loose, but the idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while that maybe I could summon the strength to guide highly motivated students through portions of volumes 1 and 3. Kipp doesn’t think I should use your books as textbooks for my classes. I suppose that’s good advice, considering the source—not to mention my affinity for hair-brained ideas like racing single speed bicycles across the country.
I think Computer Science: An Interdisciplinary Approach by your own Robert Sedgewick and Kevin Wayne would be an excellent textbook for AP Computer Science A, where I have to teach the Java programming language. I’ve elected to use JavaScript in my AP Computer Science Principles course and am strongly considering Head First JavaScript: A Brain-Friendly Guide by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Robson for that class next year. Perhaps TAOCP volumes 1 or 3 could supplement those books, at least in AP Computer Science A, at least for ambitious students in search of everything that is true, honorable, good and praiseworthy.
Before I close, I need to tell you that Kipp Johnson is a very good pianist. (He sight-reads well, I’m told!) Earlier this year Kipp seriously injured his right hand. He had surgery and the hand is slowly healing. A silver lining is that he is now familiar with many pieces written for the left hand only. If you and he are ever in the vicinity of each other and a piano, I highly recommend that you enjoy each other’s company. And while I’m in recommendation mode, if you haven’t been to the Arion Press at the Presidio of San Francisco, you must take the tour. Also, get a copy of Pi: A Hodge-Podge of Letters, Papers, Addresses, written during a period of 60 years by Bruce Rogers (designer of the Oxford Lectern Bible). I think you’ll like it!
And for dessert: One of my current students is an endangered species. Nathaniel is very interested in pipe organs! He’s even under the tutelage of a fellow in the area who tends to their needs professionally. Another one of my students has borrowed copies of TAOCP from me several times. One day I asked her if she likes reading them. She said they’re challenging. I then asked if there were at least some parts that were enjoyable. Ann informed me that your books are enjoyable because they are challenging!
Forgivemequick, I’m going! Bubye!
John Paul Spurgeon
P.S. you know or don’t you kennet or haven’t I told you every telling has a tailing and that’s the he and the she of it. Well,