Donald Knuth: Programming, Algorithms, Hard Problems & the Game of Life | Lex Fridman Podcast #219

Donald Knuth discusses his life's work on algorithm analysis, writing The Art of Computer Programming, and his views on computer science.

Donald Knuth is a computer scientist, Turing Award winner, father of algorithm analysis, author of The Art of Computer Programming, and creator of TeX. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Coinbase: coinbase.com/lex to get $5 in free Bitcoin - InsideTracker: insidetracker.com/lex and use code Lex25 to get 25% off - NetSuite: netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour - ExpressVPN: expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free - BetterHelp: betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off EPISODE LINKS: Donald's Stanford Page: profiles.stanford.edu/donald-knuth Donald's Books: amzn.to/3heyBsC PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/1e1hBvl0zS0i48fmAWUc9C RSS: lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ Full episodes playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOdP_8GztsuKi9nrraNbKKp4 Clips playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrAXtmErZgOeciFP3CBCIEElOJeitOr41 OUTLINE: 0:00 - Introduction 0:48 - First programs 24:11 - Literate programming 27:20 - Beauty in programming 33:15 - OpenAI 42:26 - Optimization 48:31 - Consciousness 57:14 - Conway's game of life 1:10:01 - Stable marriage 1:13:21 - Richard Feynman 1:24:15 - Knuth-Morris-Pratt Algorithm 1:33:47 - Hardest problem 1:51:26 - Open source 1:56:39 - Favorite symbols 2:06:12 - Productivity 2:13:53 - Meaning of life SOCIAL: - Twitter: twitter.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: facebook.com/lexfridman - Instagram: instagram.com/lexfridman - Medium: medium.com/@lexfridman - Reddit: reddit.com/r/lexfridman - Support on Patreon: patreon.com/lexfridman