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I've emailed DEK to point out that the first person to break Enigma was not actually Alan M. Turing (as stated in one of the recent pre-fascicles) but the Polis
by jll29 2y ago
I've emailed DEK to point out that the first person to break Enigma was not actually Alan M. Turing (as stated in one of the recent pre-fascicles) but the Polish mathematician Marian Rejewski (Turing's contribution was to automate the task, which was important because the rotors/settings were reconfigured by the German Wehrmacht every morning).
Bletchley Park now has a prominent bust of Rejewski that credits his accomplishment. The Polish wisely passed on their knowledge to the British to keep the intel safe, because they expected a German invasion.
On another note, I hope Professor Knuth has a continuity plan in place that ensures that his book series gets completed despite his advanced age (I'm worried about that, but tact prohibited me from asking, of course).
- WillAdams 2y agoGiven his quite healthy lifestyle, I believe that we should be okay on that latter front --- I certainly hope so.
- irrational 2y agoIt's not his lifestyle I'm worried about. There was a healthy youtuber who made videos about wilderness survival who was killed when he was rear ended by a drunk driver while stopped at a red light (the drunk driver, of course, survived). It's all the morons around Knuth I'm worried about.
- ks2048 2y agoI hate to be morbid and I wish him a long life, but at age 87, I don’t think drunk drivers are his biggest risk.
- rgmerk 2y agoThe book series will never be completed, and wouldn't be if Knuth lives to 120. And that's perfectly fine.