I wasn't convinced of Oberon; to me, MODULA-2 was great, and that's where things ought to have ended. And in terms of impact, his main accomplishment is clearly

I wasn't convinced of Oberon; to me, MODULA-2 was great, and that's where things ought to have ended. And in terms of impact, his main accomplishment is clearly Pascal (and indeed, thanks for that!). However, I do believe his aspiration to make things simpler is genuine. Occasionally, he may have gone beyond the 'sweet spot', but as an academic, this way of tinkering and trying out different things is something that is second nature. I admire that he wrote a language, compiler, OS and - later - also designed the hardware of his own workstation. That's the kind of teacher you want: "look, how easy it all is!". His compiler book, which can be read in a day, remains a marvel of clarity and brevity.