"When I'm sitting in an audience listening to a long lecture, my attention usually starts to wane at about this point in the hour. So I wonder, are you getting

"When I'm sitting in an audience listening to a long lecture, my attention usually starts to wane at about this point in the hour. So I wonder, are you getting a little tired of my harangue about 'science' and 'art'?" yes. i'd already started skimming several pages earlier. i don't have a problem with reading texts of any length, so long as they are telling me something interesting. belaboring an insignificant point for five or six pages does not fall into that category. i know knuth is a smart guy and all, but man, this reminds me of why i so rarely read him.