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You can safely ignore it, the document is just a summary of Knuth's book. And it's a good one, I found it very helpful when I was working through the book. I fo

You can safely ignore it, the document is just a summary of Knuth's book. And it's a good one, I found it very helpful when I was working through the book. I found I had to read the material from several different sources to understand, in addition to working things out on paper/in code. I'm not religious myself but honestly that seems like a perfectly reasonable motivation. While there are some people who believe the Surreals could lead to a deeper form of analysis, I think the most common reason to learn them is to apprehend something beautiful without any sort of utility. But as a heads up, if that doesn't sit right with you, then Knuth's book is probably not right for you either; it's framed in the style of the old testament. On the first day, Conway created zero, and saw that it was good; things like that. This may be more to your taste. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPn2AdMH7UQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPn2AdMH7UQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eAmxgINXrE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eAmxgINXrE https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/51289919.pdf https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/51289919.pdf

dvt 5y ago
> You can safely ignore it, the document is just a summary of Knuth's book. Knuth is a Lutheran, by the way (uh-oh). He even wrote 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated[1]. [1] https://www.amazon.com/3-16-Bible-Texts-Illuminated/dp/0895792524 https://www.amazon.com/3-16-Bible-Texts-Illuminated/dp/08957...
- maxbond 5y ago
  I didn't know that, that's interesting. Thank you. To clarify, I didn't mean, you can ignore it because it's irrelevant, as much as, you can derive the bulk of the value from the text if you ignore the introduction.
- dhosek 5y ago
  Perhaps even more interesting is Knuth’s Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About which goes into a bit more of his religious life and how he applies some mathematical techniques (particularly Monte Carlo–style random selection). The genesis of 3:16 (so to speak) is discussed as well. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157586326X/donhosek http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157586326X/donhosek
- globular-toast 5y ago
  Knuth isn't evangelical, though. Like Bach and many others, Knuth's works could be classified as either religious or secular. He doesn't shoehorn religion into every work.
exmadscientist 5y ago
For what little it's worth, I am not a religious person, but I found Knuth's Surreal Numbers perfectly reasonable, much more on the tongue-in-cheek side than the proselytizing side. And the surreal numbers are over of my favorite things in mathematics, so I'd say they're worth it :)
weatherlight 5y ago
Thanks, this was constructive and informative.

dvt 5y ago

> You can safely ignore it, the document is just a summary of Knuth's book. Knuth is a Lutheran, by the way (uh-oh). He even wrote 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated[1]. [1] https://www.amazon.com/3-16-Bible-Texts-Illuminated/dp/0895792524 https://www.amazon.com/3-16-Bible-Texts-Illuminated/dp/08957...

maxbond 5y ago
I didn't know that, that's interesting. Thank you. To clarify, I didn't mean, you can ignore it because it's irrelevant, as much as, you can derive the bulk of the value from the text if you ignore the introduction.
dhosek 5y ago
Perhaps even more interesting is Knuth’s Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About which goes into a bit more of his religious life and how he applies some mathematical techniques (particularly Monte Carlo–style random selection). The genesis of 3:16 (so to speak) is discussed as well. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157586326X/donhosek http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157586326X/donhosek
globular-toast 5y ago
Knuth isn't evangelical, though. Like Bach and many others, Knuth's works could be classified as either religious or secular. He doesn't shoehorn religion into every work.

exmadscientist 5y ago

For what little it's worth, I am not a religious person, but I found Knuth's Surreal Numbers perfectly reasonable, much more on the tongue-in-cheek side than the proselytizing side. And the surreal numbers are over of my favorite things in mathematics, so I'd say they're worth it :)

weatherlight 5y ago

Thanks, this was constructive and informative.