The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge in the category of Information Technology and Communication has been granted in its third edition to the American mathematician Donald E. Knuth, to "make a science of computer programming by introducing mathematical techniques for the rigorous analysis of algorithms," said the jury.Furthermore, "brought elegance to promote writing a programming code simple, compact and intuitively understandable." Knuth's work The Art of Computer Programming systematize the way humans talk to machines. Absolute reference in the area, its first volume was published in 1968. Is considered "the most important work of software engineering in its broadest sense, encompassing algorithms and methods are at the heart of the vast majority of computer systems with a rare clarity and depth," said the jury's .
"Its impact, both in theory and in practice, is unparalleled." "Art refers to something artificial, made by humans rather than nature, but also a beautiful work. I think to create something beautiful, that a computer program has style, elegance, and communicate well. Good programs should also be well written, "Knuth said by phone yesterday." I like this statement: the difference between science and art is that science is something we understand well enough to explain to computers, while the art is everything else.
"Knuth laid the foundations of modern compilers, programs that translate high-level language programmers the binary language of computers. Developers can write in languages so close to the thinking of someone human, and his job is then automatically translated into the language of machines.
The winner is also the father of algorithm analysis, that is, the set of instructions given to a computer to perform a task. "The algorithms are at the center of the digital world, and underlie everything we do with a computer, "says the report. Knuth systematized design software and" laid the foundation on which software is built today.
"Knuth is also the creator of the program typefaces used today in scientific texts, TeX and METAFONT, distributed open source. There are two languages that "incorporate typographic aesthetics allowing authors to make printed documents with design," explained to the jury. Born in 1938 in Wisconsin, since 1993 professor emeritus at Stanford University (USA), which he joined as professor at age 30.
Currently, retired and is dedicated to complete The Art of Computer Programming, a series of volumes which began work in 1962 and have been published until now three-in 1968, 1969 and 1973 -. Just 4 A volume has just been printed and he expects to receive today, as said by telephone after being announced the decision of the Boundary Award.
The unique character of Knuth is well known in the scientific community. Avoid any distractions, including email. He explains in his website: "I am a happy man since I have no email, January 1, 1999. (...) What I do takes me many hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration. I try to understand thoroughly certain areas of computer science, to be accessible to those who do not have time for that study.
" Yesterday provided by phone, a job description, "is to distinguish between the contributions [computer science] that will last and no." For example, "Internet is changing drastically every month, but still there are things that are happening now and will remain important in 50 years, my job is to discover what they are." The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge, created in 2008, each worth 400,000 euros, recognized research and the creation of excellence.
Its eight categories reflect the major scientific challenges, technological, social and economic impact of this.
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