
Donald Knuth – The Joy of Asymptotics (2000) [video] - espeed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2W1y0a7PhU
======
svat
Yesterday was Knuth's 81st birthday, and perhaps for that reason, a good
number of videos have been made unlisted on the stanfordonline YouTube
channel. Recording the links here for posterity:

• "Donald Knuth lectures"
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL94E35692EB9D36F3](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL94E35692EB9D36F3)
(111 videos)

This includes several sub-series but the playlists don't have the videos in
the right order:

• “Aha sessions”:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rNbeodV7vqx...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rNbeodV7vqxxxWpe4s_SFty)
(Knuth used to run a “problem-solving seminar” at Stanford; these are videos
from one such year.)

Three lecture series on TeX that are now of historical interest (e.g. the TeX
program has changed considerably):

• “TeX for Beginners”
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rN1PKcXvzjo...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rN1PKcXvzjor-
Bl6o6eSNTN)

• “Advanced TeXarcana”
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rNrDaAftaqM...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rNrDaAftaqMRQEmsARSpLHi)

• “The Internal Details of TeX82”
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rM2JuHk3qBh...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rM2JuHk3qBhQDxY9QGrLrYE)
(I've found this invaluable as I try to read the TeX program)

The following two playlists are still unlisted and I no longer know how to get
to them:

• Mathematical Writing
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rOrFl78-o6m...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rOrFl78-o6m_QbJqTXGfVVb)

• Computer Musings - Donald Knuth
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rNMsVRnSJ44...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoROMvodv4rNMsVRnSJ44WuwbminUqXX2)

(I happened to have them in my browser history… these playlists used to be
linked from [http://scpd.stanford.edu/knuth/](http://scpd.stanford.edu/knuth/)
but as of yesterday they seem to have changed it up, and also made the videos
public (why were they “unlisted” earlier? No idea).)

And completely unrelated, but if you happen to be interested in church organ
music and the Bible's Book of Revelation, the world premiere of Knuth's
_Fantasia Apocalyptica_
([https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/fant.html](https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/fant.html)):

•
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvixIGKr5sJffdfwecygY...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvixIGKr5sJffdfwecygYqhXsgz-
EBCC8)

~~~
x220
Why were they unlisted?

~~~
svat
In my first sentence I wrote "have been made unlisted" but meant the opposite:
"have been made public". As for why they used to be unlisted earlier, I have
no idea. Just found them following links from Knuth's website.

------
jelliclesfarm
Happy 81th to Prof.Knuth.

------
sytelus
One of the coolest part in this video is how Knuth insist on computing all
fundamental constants to 40 digits and how it saved him 3 times!

------
thomasahle
The resolution of this makes it virtually impossible to read any of what he is
writing. Is there a higher resolution version available?

~~~
hackermailman
The orig IIRC was a windows media player format file you could try searching
for it, though most of what he's covering is in this collection of papers
[https://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/aa.html](https://www-cs-
faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/aa.html)

I think he gave this talk twice, once in 2000 and once at HERCMA 2001

------
lfmunoz4
Anyone know why he never went to see a speech therapist?

~~~
espeed
Have you ever noticed how some of the world's smartest people have a somewhat
jerky stop-and-go speech pattern, sort-of like Google's autocomplete? It's not
uncommon among smart people who are careful about what they say, strive for
precision, and are cognizant and empathetic to potential contextual gaps among
their audience and their different levels of understanding.

Elon Musk has a similar pattern, but it's not so much a speech disorder as it
is their brain is working so fast, pulling from multiple sources and
considering multiple perspectives. They're auto-editing their words in real-
time, revising what they're saying while considering all of the above factors
and more. But sometimes they get ahead of themselves and so in an effort to be
clear and precise, they backtrack a few words and rephrase, filling-in as they
anticipate potential contextual gaps. This is what you're seeing.

Rather than thinking they need to see a speech therapist, view it as a mark of
authentic speech by someone who strives for precision and is empathetic to
their audience. When you look at it this way, you can know and appreciate that
you're witnessing the genuine workings of a brilliant mind.

~~~
aaaaaaaaaab
Terrence Tao also stutters.

~~~
copperx
I disagree; his speech seems normal to me.

However, I have been thinking about the unique speech patterns of some
accomplished individuals. My uninformed guess is that some people develop
neural connections differently depending on what they do in their formative
years. Feynman, in a video [1], talks about how he was able to keep accurate
time while reading but not talking, whereas his friend John Tukey could keep
time while talking but not reading.

If someone doesn't talk much as a kid because they spent most of their time
reading or solving math problems, it might be reasonable to expect that their
speech will be underdeveloped.

I have nothing but anecdotal evidence. I, for instance, cannot talk and think
(perform simple arithmetic or recall something from memory or even think about
the next sentence) at the same time. If I'm talking, I have to pause shortly,
think and structure what I'm going to say, and then say it, and after saying
it I might notice I missed something and then I rephrase it. I've recorded
myself and my speech pattern is almost the same as the one in Knuth's videos.
I attribute the speech pattern to not having to talk much during my formative
years.

[1]: [http://generallythinking.com/richard-feynman-on-thinking-
pro...](http://generallythinking.com/richard-feynman-on-thinking-processes-
did-he-know-nothing-about-psychology-v/)

