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Cover Quote: May 2019
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Finally, let’s address the most important question: Why should we learn about the theory of computation? Why do we need to know ‘what can be computed’? There are two high-level answers to this: (a) it’s useful and (b) the ideas are beautiful and important. […] It’s worth noting, however, that our two reasons for studying the theory of computation (which could be summarized roughly as “usefulness” and “beauty”) are by no means distinct. Indeed, the two justifications overlap and reinforce each other. The great Stanford computer scientist Donald Knuth once wrote, ‘We have some freedom in setting up our personal standards of beauty, but it is especially nice when the things we regard as beautiful are also regarded by other people as useful.
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- John MacCormick
What Can Be Computed?, 2018
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