[Today’s run: 3.5 miles]
Yesterday I took another run at the start of “The Art Of Computer Programming” volume 1, the first of a multi-volume set produced by Dr. Donald Knuth.
I have quite a few of Dr. Knuth’s books. They are all beautifully produced. And some of them happen to be about how he wrote his own typesetting and page layout software in order to produce the books.
Knuth started the AoCP series in the 1960’s I believe. They have been revised and extended since.
My problem is that, though the books are beautiful, it takes such great concentration for me to get anywhere with them. They are hard to read.
I have another book of his called “Concrete Mathematics” which I take a swipe out now and then. I don’t get far into that one either.
I have thought in the past about getting an advanced degree in Computer Science. Three things have held me back. First is the time and effort involved, second is the expense (and the fact that it wouldn’t really have any income-producing benefit on my career. The third reason is that I think I’d probably be in over my head. And I can get in over my head by just cracking open one of Dr. Knuth’s books.