#219 – Donald Knuth: Programming, Algorithms, Hard Problems & the Game of Life

Donald Knuth is a computer scientist, Turing Award winner, father of algorithm analysis, author of The Art of Computer Programming, and creator of TeX. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
- Coinbase: https://coinbase.com/lex to get $5 in free Bitcoin
- InsideTracker: https://insidetracker.com/lex and use code Lex25 to get 25% off
- NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/lex to get free product tour
- ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/lexpod and use code LexPod to get 3 months free
- BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/lex to get 10% off

EPISODE LINKS:
Donald's Stanford Page: https://profiles.stanford.edu/donald-knuth
Donald's Books: https://amzn.to/3heyBsC

PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips

SUPPORT & CONNECT:
- Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast
- Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
- Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman

OUTLINE:
Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) - Introduction
(07:02) - First programs
(30:26) - Literate programming
(33:35) - Beauty in programming
(39:30) - OpenAI
(48:41) - Optimization
(54:46) - Consciousness
(1:03:29) - Conway's game of life
(1:16:16) - Stable marriage
(1:19:35) - Richard Feynman
(1:30:29) - Knuth-Morris-Pratt Algorithm
(1:40:02) - Hardest problem
(1:57:41) - Open source
(2:02:54) - Favorite symbols
(2:12:27) - Productivity
(2:20:08) - Meaning of life