From: rhinoceros (rhinoceros@freemail.gr)
Date: Fri Aug 09 2002 - 15:01:38 MDT
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/UTCS/notices/dijkstra/ewdobit.html
Dijkstra was notorious for his wit, eloquence, and way with words, such as in his remark "The question of whether computers can think is like the question of whether submarines can swim"; his advice to a promising researcher, who asked how to select a topic for research: "Do only what only you can do"; and his remark in his Turing Award lecture "In their capacity as a tool, computers will be but a ripple on the surface of our culture. In their capacity as intellectual challenge, they are without precedent in the cultural history of mankind."
<snip>
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/26585.html
"In 1955 I took the decision not to become a theoretical physicist, but a programmer instead," he wrote.
"I had concluded that of theoretical physics and programming, programming embodied the greater intellectual challenge," he explained.
Two years later, however the Dutch marriage registrar refused to accept programmer as a profession, and instead put "theoretical physicist" he explained in his Turing lecture [480k PDF].
<snip>
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/
A collection of 1,300 works in PDF format.
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