“An algorithm must be seen to be believed.”
Vol. I, Fundamental Algorithms, Section 1.1 (1968)
The Art of Computer Programming (1968–2011)
Source: Leaders in Computing: Changing the digital world
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Donald Ervin Knuth 32
American computer scientist 1938Related quotes
An Enquiry Concerning Human (and Computer!) [Mathematical] Understanding C.S. Calude, ed., "Randomness & Complexity, from Leibniz to Chaitin", World Scientific, Singapore, (October 2007)
Context: Algorithms existed for at least five thousand years, but people did not know that they were algorithmizing. Then came Turing (and Post and Church and Markov and others) and formalized the notion.
“And dawn, exalted like a host of doves - and then I've seen what men believe they've seen!”
The Narrow-Minded and Ignorant Referee's Report [and Zeilberger's Response] of Zeilberger's Paper "Automaric CounTilings" that was rejected by Helene Barcelo and the Members of the Advisory Board [that includes(!) Enumeration Expert Mireille Bousquet-Melou] of the Journal of Combinatorial Theory-Series A. http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/RefTipesh.html
Michael A. Jackson. "A system development method," in: Tools and notions for program construction: An advanced course, Cambridge University Press, 1982. p. 1
New Theories of Everything (2007)
Context: We say that the string is 'random' if there is no other representation of the string which is shorter than itself. But we will say that it is 'non-random' if there does exist such an abbreviated representation.... In general, the shorter the possible representation... the less random... On this view we recognize science to be the search for algorithmic compressions.<!--Ch. 1, p. 11
“I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it.”
“Some things have to be believed to be seen. -Ralph Hodgson”
Source: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood