> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Scott David Daniels > > I suggested them to you (rather than generally to students) because > you said you felt: > > My own experience is more toward the learning to program to learn - > in my case - mathematical ideas. But ultimately, to get to where I > want to get, I realize that "basic computational skills" are not > sufficient - that I need to get somewhat beyond the basics. > > Knuth was a mathematician by training, and quite a good one at that. > Concrete Mathematics is a math book built with an eye to the kind of > math that you need the deeper you get into CS.
I certainly think the reference to Knuth, directed to me, is right on point in a number of respects. Besides being a mathematician, I would say his body of work meets my own perceived needs as a student - looking for the best resources to help me learn how to *program*, not those more relevant to learning "how to program" (sorry I can't think of a better way of saying that). And certainly I would have loved to have had his books in hand to browse at my book store visit, and certainly if I found them (as I would have expected) they *would* have been browsed. I have been waiting for an effort at Knuth to meet one further criteria of the Naïve Programmer - solving a problem I actually have. And it happens I have recently concluded that is exactly where I am. Having a short term goal of exploring Kleinian Groups, in code - ala the ideas (and wonderful graphics) presented in the book Indra's Pearl http://www.ms.unimelb.edu.au/~pnorbury/colloquium/series.html My early efforts have led me to the conclusion that the understanding of algorithmic ideas that are necessary to get there (and that would be part of a CS curriculum) will remain beyond my reach without some more formal study of the area. What will probably not be realistic is the whole nine yards of Knuth - as much as I suspect I would appreciate that effort if there were not constraints on the time I can give to this. But some Knuth seems definitely to be destined for me in the near future. Because I not only want to get at Kleinian Groups in code, I am sufficiently obsessed with the idea of doing so. Art _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
