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Conference rusure::math

Title:	Mathematics at DEC

Moderator:	RUSURE::EDP

Created:	Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	2083
Total number of notes:	14613

758.0. "? is Don Knuth stuck at vol 3 ?" by TDCIS1::POUTHIER () Wed Sep 09 1987 15:13

    After looking in our library catalog, it seems we only have the
    first three volumes of Knuth's "Art of Computer Programming".
    
    Would someone know if any of the volumes 4...7 has been
    published ?
    
    (well, in fact, the one I am interested in is supposed to be
    vol #5 : lexical scanning and parsing techniques...)
    
    thanks + regards,
    J-L

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
758.1		BEING::POSTPISCHIL	Always mount a scratch monkey.	`Wed Sep 09 1987 16:35`	4
	No, they have not. -- edp
758.2	Time warp	AKQJ10::YARBROUGH	Why is computing so labor intensive?	`Wed Sep 09 1987 20:35`	12
	Some time after reviewing Volumes 1 and 2 for ACM Computing Reviews, I wrote to Knuth and asked him when Vol. 4 would appear. I still have his reply, that Addison-Wesley had the galleys and it would be published "in November". The letter is dated 1974! He may yet be right, but I wish he had been more specific as to the year... Volume 4 was to be about combinatorial algorithms. That field has exploded since Vol 3 appeared, and it may be that the amount of material is now growing too rapidly to be distilled into one volume. I'm sure most of the original material is obsolete. Lynn Yarbrough
758.3	calculus has been around how long ?	VIDEO::OSMAN	type video::user$7:[osman]eric.six	`Thu Sep 10 1987 18:11`	1
	I didn't think math ever became obsolete...
758.4	But it's not really a math book	AKQJ10::YARBROUGH	Why is computing so labor intensive?	`Fri Sep 11 1987 18:28`	1
	Math isn't, but algorithms can be (bubble sort, for example).
758.5	"Back soon..."	WELMTS::GIBSON	Alan Gibson @WLO	`Mon Oct 26 1987 11:53`	6
	I recall reading somewhere that Knuth said that as he had been involved in the typographical layout of vols 1-3, he became too distracted by the mathematical problems of fonts, etc. He promised that when he finished with TEx, he would return to "The Art".
758.6		LASSIE::PETTENGILL	mulp	`Fri Apr 08 1988 16:11`	3
	He claims to be done with TeX and Metafont (about a year ago), but given that he tubed on typeset for a decade, why would you believe that he won't tube on something else.
758.7	not soon, maybe someday	TOOK::CBRADLEY	Chuck Bradley	`Mon Aug 27 1990 22:02`	6
	last winter, i saw an offer by addison wesley to send info on vol 4 when it was available. i called them, and discovered they have no manuscript, no schedule, and they are not committing to do anything. it would be over a year before any change in that status could happen. maybe they are trying to discover the degree of interest. i told them i would buy it and i knew many others who would also buy it.