If by "fundamental" you mean "original research" then yes - a lot of Knuth's content is re-distillations on original research. On the other hand, Knuth has an

If by "fundamental" you mean "original research" then yes - a lot of Knuth's content is re-distillations on original research. On the other hand, Knuth has an incredible capacity to read, interpret, understand, and especially apply and expand the contents of research papers -- far beyond the capacity of nearly anyone else. So if you want to spend a lot of time reading through ACM and IEEE journals, have fun. But you'll understand the research and be able to apply it far better when helped by Knuth.