Subject: Cafe Scientifique Reminder - Tuesday Jan. 10 - Don Knuth

From: Café Scientifique Events <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2006 06:04:47 -0800

Come to the Roche campus on Tuesday, January 10, 2006 for an informal conversation with our next Café Scientifique Palo Alto speaker:

Donald E. Knuth

Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming
Stanford University

"All Questions answered"

Tuesday, January 10, 2006 -  6 - 7:30 p.m.

Roche Palo Alto

Cafeteria Building

3431 Hillview Ave.

Palo Alto

Click here for directions.

Food and beverages including soups and paninis, will be available for purchase starting at 5:30 p.m., thanks to Guckenheimer, Roche's caterer.  

Donald Knuth is considered one of the founding fathers of computer science and his multi-volume series The Art of Computer Programming is often called "The Bible". Knuth began to prepare textbooks about programming techniques in 1962, and this work evolved into the projected seven-volume series. Volumes 1-3 first appeared in 1968, 1969, and 1973 and were revised in 1997. Approximately one million copies have already been printed, including translations into six languages. Don Knuth is now working full time on the remaining volumes. In 1999 American Scientist named The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-3 among the best twelve scientific monographs of the century. Combining breadth, clarity, accuracy, and good humor, the books comprise an invaluable resource in programming theory and practice for students, researchers, and practitioners alike. 

His research papers have been instrumental in establishing several sub-areas of computer science and software engineering such as LR(k) parsing; attribute grammars; the Knuth-Bendix algorithm for axiomatic reasoning; empirical studies of user programs and profiles; analysis of algorithms.

The TeX system for document preparation, which Knuth developed during the late 1970s and early 1980s, is still used to produce most of the world's scientific literature in physics and mathematics.

For a glimpse of Don Knuth's style, listen to the March 14, 2005 NPR interview.

Café Scientifique events are open to all free of charge.  No reservations are necessary.  For more information please visit our web site: http://www.cafescipa.org .  Check the web for information about future and past events, including photos.  Feel free to forward this announcement to interested friends and colleagues.

Sponsored by Roche Palo Alto and Roxro Pharma, Café Scientifique is a place where anyone can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology and debate science issues outside a traditional academic context.  We meet monthly to discuss a variety of science topics.  Feel free to forward this message to anyone you think could be interested.  

If you do not wish to receive Café Scientifique announcements please send an email to [email-masked].  

Kind regards, 

Catherine Martineau

[email-masked]