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To be fair, binary is foundational to computer programming so I would expect to find Knuth there.

I wouldn't, just because it's so long ago. It's like reading, "the only person who has attempted to build Babbage's Difference Engine is Donald E. Knuth"!

> just because it's so long ago.

That's precisely why I would expect him the most. If anyone would dig deep into the history of mathematics to find and understand all of the origins of fundamental concepts in computer science, it's Knuth.

I think that the only reason this sentence isn’t part of the literature is that DEK is more of a software guy than a hardware guy.

Mostly because he's a writer.

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