Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About

a series of public lectures about interactions between faith and computer science

Donald E. Knuth
Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming
Stanford University

Wednesdays, 4:30--6:00pm
MIT 34-101 (50 Vassar Street)

Lecture 1 (October 6): Introduction.: Why I am unqualified to give these lectures.; Why the lectures might be interesting anyway.; The 3:16 project, a turning point in my life.
Lecture 2 (October 13): Randomization and Religion.: The advantages of unbiased sampling as a way to gain insight into a complicated subject.; Dangers to avoid when using this approach.
Lecture 3 (October 27): Language Translation.: How to translate Bible verses without knowing Hebrew or Greek.; The surprising rewards of such attempts, even though the task is difficult or impossible.
Lecture 4 (November 3): Aesthetics.: Scientific work as an artistic endeavor.; The deep influence that beautiful presentation can have on our understanding of texts.; Illustrations by many of the world’s greatest masters of calligraphy.
Panel Discussion (November 17): Creativity, Spirituality, and Computer Science.: Panelists are Mitch Kapor (Lotus), Guy Steele (Sun), Manuela Veloso (CMU), and DEK (Stanford),; moderated by Harry Lewis (Harvard).
Lecture 5 (December 1): Glimpses of God.: What I think I learned about God from the 3:16 project.; What I think I learned about theology from the 3:16 project.; The difference between the two.
Lecture 6 (December 8): God and Computer Science.: Computer programmers as creators of new universes.; Computational complexity as a way to approach questions of free will and omnipotence.; Other concepts of computer science that may give insights about divinity.