Knuth reward check
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In the preface of each of his books and on his website[1], computer scientist Donald Knuth offers to cheerfully pay a reward of "$2.56" (USD) to the first finder of each error, whether it be technical, typographical, or historical. Knuth explains that $2.56, or 256 cents, correspond to one hexadecimal dollar.[2] Valuable suggestions are worth 32¢.
These reward checks have been described as "among computerdom's most prized trophies".[3] As of October 2001, Knuth reports having written more than 2,000 such checks, with an average value exceeding $8 per check.[4] As of March 2005, the total value of the checks signed by Knuth was over $20,000 (see NPR interview below). Very few of these checks are actually cashed, however, even the largest ones; more often, they are framed, or kept as bragging rights.[5][6]
- Intelligence: Finding an error in a Knuth text.
- Stupidity: Cashing that $2.56 check you got.
- Seen in a Slashdot signature, quoted by Edward O'Connor[7]
The reward for coding errors found in Knuth's TeX and METAFONT programs (as distinguished from errors in Knuth's books) followed an audacious scheme inspired by the Wheat and Chessboard Problem [8]. It started at $2.56, and doubled every year until it reached $327.68 [9]. Recipients of this "sweepstakes" reward include Chris Thompson (Cambridge) and Boguslaw Jackowski (Gdansk)[10], and Peter Breitenlohner [11].
Knuth is often not able to answer immediately when a reader finds a mistake in one of his books or programs; in some cases, the delay was several years long. For example, on 1 July 1996, Knuth sent out more than 250 letters, 125 of which contained checks, for errors reported in The Art of Computer Programming since the summer of 1981. A few of these remain unclaimed as of May 2006.[12] When Knuth is not able to reply immediately, he adds a 5% interest, compounded continuously, to the reward.[13]
Each check's memo field identifies the book and page number. 1.23 indicates an error on page 23 of Volume 1. (1.23) indicates a valuable suggestion on that page. The symbol Θ denotes the book Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About, KLR denotes the book Mathematical Writing (by Knuth, Larrabee, and Roberts), GKP and CM denote the book Concrete Mathematics (by Graham, Knuth, and Patashnik), f1 denotes fascicle 1, and CMT denotes the book Computer Modern Typefaces.
[edit] Known checks
Frank Ruskey's class with checks
Eugene McDonnell claims to have 12 checks totalling $70.07.
Panagiotis Louridas claims to have a check.
Phil Carmody claims to have a $5.12 check.
Paul Leyland claims to have a $2.88 check.
Jud McCranie claims to have a check, delivered after 11 years and 5 moves.
Andres Valloud claims to have check #256 for $0.32 dated 2005-10-01.
John R. Black Jr. claims to have a $2.56 check dated 1996.
Allan Steel claims to have check #379 for $2.56 for Vol 2, p 313, dated 1998-06-17.
bentini claims to have checks for $5.12.
jquiroga claims to have checks for $2.94 and $2.56 (including interest).
Doron Zeilberger claims to have a check for $4.21 (including interest).
Dennis E. Hamilton claims to have a framed check.
Barbara Beeton claims to have a small collection of checks.
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ See http://sunburn.stanford.edu/~knuth/books.html
- ^ Frequently Asked Questions on Don Knuth's webpage
- ^ Steve Ditlea . Rewriting the Bible in 0's and 1's. MIT's "Technology Review", 11 January 2002.
- ^ http://www.ams.org/notices/200203/fea-knuth.pdf
- ^ Kara Platoni, Love at First Byte. Stanford Magazine, May-June 2006
- ^ The History of TeX
- ^ http://www.stgray.com/quotes/programming.html
- ^ Weisstein, Eric W., Wheat and Chessboard Problem at MathWorld.
- ^ http://www.ams.org/notices/200203/fea-knuth.pdf
- ^ http://www.uni-giessen.de/hrz/tex/more_info/info/mailarchiv/mutex.1995/msg00147.html
- ^ http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb17-1/tb50knut.pdf
- ^ What is your current mailing address? on Don Knuth's website.
- ^ See http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/mamarim/mamarimPDF/king.pdf, and http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=29586&pid=3178058#3178872.
[edit] External links
- Interview (RealVideo format) (or Transcript) with Knuth on National Public Radio
