Dijkstra's Rallying Cry for Generalization

Dijkstra's library Dijkstra's home in Nuenen — anno January 2011 — contained a large collection of scientific books, booklets, papers, manuscripts, etc. A large part of that collection is now archived by me in Leuven and will be discussed on this page. For the complete inventory, see below. College books, early 1950s. Starting with Dijkstra's years as a student in physics at the university of Leiden, most (if not all) of his notebooks from university are preserved. Here are some of the Dutch courses Dijkstra followed in Leiden, translated into English: Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry Calculus I and II Physics I and II Function theory I Mathematical theory of Relativity Analytical Geometry I, II, III Thermodynamics Logic Measure and integration theory Relativity theory Descriptive Geometry Electrodynamics Newtonian Mechanics, Statistical Mechanics Of particular interest is Dijkstra's notes on "Logic". What did he learn as a student in Leiden about logic? A quick glance through his notes reveals that the course was about Socrates, Plato, Aristoteles --- that is, no modern logic seems to have been covered in that course. Books by E.T. Bell Dijkstra was inspired by Eric Temple Bell (1883-1960). The following books of him are part of my collection: E.T. Bell, Men of Mathematics: Volume I, First published in 1937. Published in Penguin Books, 1953. E.T. Bell, Men of Mathematics: Volume II, First published in 1937. Published in Penguin Books, 1953. E.T. Bell, Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science, British edition 1952, reprinted 1954, 1958, 1961, 1966. G. Bell & Sons, Ltd: London. E.T. Bell, The Magic of Numbers, copyright 1946, renewed in 1974. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1991. Dijkstra started citing Bell frequently during the mid-1970s, for example in EWD512 and EWD682.

In that latter EWD, Dijkstra explicitly referred to: E.T. Bell, The Development of Mathematics, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York-London, 1945. How did Bell's work influence Dijkstra's thinking? When visiting Dijkstra's home in Nuenen in January 2011, the shelves in Dijkstra's office were still packed with books. Stacked against the walls were several boxes which Dijkstra had sent to his home in Nuenen from Texas (in 1999/2000). Even very personal information, such as his medical dossier, was still in his office. With the permission from Edsger W. Dijkstra's family, I was allowed to empty a large part of his office. In total, I took with me 16 boxes of Edsger W. Dijkstra's original possessions. The contents of those boxes are listed on this page. Inventory When visiting Dijkstra's home in Nuenen in January 2011, the shelves in Dijkstra's office were still packed with books. Stacked against the walls were several boxes which Dijkstra had sent to his home in Nuenen from Texas (in 1999/2000). Even very personal information, such as his medical dossier, was still in his office. With the permission from Edsger W. Dijkstra's family, I was allowed to empty a large part of his office. In total, I took with me 16 boxes of Edsger W. Dijkstra's original possessions. The contents of those boxes are listed on this page. Summary of the inventory: Boxes 1,2,3,4: Books Box 5: Booklets, Papers, Letters Box 6: Posters -- Books Box 7: Books Box 8: Lecture Notes -- Books Box 9: Obituaries & Tributes -- pictures and documents -- documents and booklets -- books Box 10: Collections of EWDs -- manuscripts, booklets, poster Box 11: Manuscripts, booklets, papers, letters -- posters, prizes, pictures Box

12: Mainly correspondence Box 13: Booklets and correspondence Box 14: Correspondence with Ole-Johan Dahl Box 15: Correspondence and selected EWDs Box 16: Books -- translated books -- appreciation -- newspaper articles VARIA Complete inventory: BOX 1 Books F.L. Bauer, M. Broy (eds), Program Construction, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1979. P.J. Davis, R. Hersh, The Mathematical Experience, Penguin Books, 1984. P.J. Davis, R. Hersh, Descartes' Dream: The World According to Mathematics, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1987. C.N. Dean, M.G. Hinchey (eds), Teaching and Learning Formal Methods. With a foreword by Edsger W. Dijkstra. Academic Press, 1996. W. Dunham, Euler: The Master of Us All, The Mathematical Association of America, Dolciani Mathematical Expositions No. 22, 1999. H. Freeman, P.M. Lewis II (eds), Software Engineering, Academic Press, 1980. A.J.M. van Gasteren, On the shape of mathematical arguments, PhD dissertation, Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven, 20 December 1988. Contains a separate page of handwriting, presumably Dijkstra's. R. Goodman (ed), Annual Review in Automatic Programming, Vol. 3, Pergamon Press, 1963. R. Goodman (ed), Annual Review in Automatic Programming, Vol. 4, Pergamon Press, 1964. D. Gries (ed), Programming Methodology: A Collection of Articles by Members of IFIP WG2.3, Springer-Verlag New York, 1978. D. Gries, The Science of Programming, Springer-Verlag New York, 1981. Contains a personal note from Gries to Dijkstra, signed on 14 October 1981. D. Gries, F.B. Schneider, A Logical Approach to Discrete Math, Springer-Verlag New York, 1993.

A.N. Habermann, On the Harmonious Co-operation of Abstract Machines, PhD dissertation, Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven, 24 October 1967. Contains a separate CV of Haberman D. Harel, First-Order Dynamic Logic, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, G. Goos & J. Hartmanis (eds), Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1979. D.R. Hartree, Calculating Instruments and Machines, Cambridge University Press, 1950. C.A.R. Hoare, He Jifeng, Unifying Theories of Programming, Prentice Hall Europe, 1998. Contains a personal note from Hoare to Edsger and Ria Dijkstra, signed Foxwold, September 1999. BOX 2 Books J.N. Buxton, B. Randell, Software Engineering Techniques, Report on a Conference Sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, Rome, Italy, October 1969. The Kynoch Press, Birmingham. Essays of E.B. White, First Harper Colophon edition published in 1979. Reissued in Harper-Perennial 1992. P. Klint (red.), Colloquium Hogere Programmeertalen en Computerarchitectuur, Mathematisch Centrum Amsterdam, 1980. J. Madey (ed), SE-WMT - Structured Programming: The Hard Core of Software Engineering, ETAPS 2003, Warsaw, Poland. N. Metropolis, J. Howlett, G-C. Rota (eds), A History of Computing in the Twentieth Century, Academic Press, 1980. R. Milner, A Calculus of Communicating Systems, G. Goos, J. Hartmanis (eds), Springer-Verlag, 1980. M. Minsky, Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines, Prentice-Hall Series in Automatic Computation, 1967. Modern Computing Methods, Notes on Applied Science: No. 16, 2nd ed., completely revised, department of scientific and industrial research, National Physical Laboratory, 1961. P. Naur, B. Randell, Software Engineering, Report on a Conference Sponsored by the NATO Science Committee, Garmisch, Germany, October 1968.

Published in January 1969. J. von Neumann, Collected Works, Volume V: Design of Computers, Theory of Automata and Numerical Analysis, A.H. Taub (ed), Pergamon Press, 1963. C.A. Petri, Kommunikation mit Automaten, Von der Fakultat fur Mathematik und Physik der Technischen Hochschule Darmstadt -- zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften, Bonn 1962. B. Randell, L.J. Russell, ALGOL60 Implementation, A.P.I.C. Studies in Data Processing: No.5, Academic Press, 1964. Contains a personal note from Randell and Russell. B. Randell (ed), The Origins of Digital Computers: Selected Papers, Springer-Verlag, 1973. H. Rutishauser, Automatische Rechenplanfertigung bei programmgesteuerten Rechenmaschinen: Nr. 3, Mitteilungen aus dem Institu fur angewandte Mathematik -- an der Eidgenossischen Technischen Hochschule in Zurich, Herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. E. Stiefel, Birkhauser Verlag -- Basel/Stuttgart, 1961. G. de Santillana, The Crime of Galileo, Mercury Books: No 14, 1961. S.A. Schuman (ed), New Directions in Algorithmic Languages, Prepared for IFIP Working Group 2.1 on ALGOL, Published by Institut de Recherche D'informatique et D'automatique: Domaine de Voluceau, Rocquencourt, 1976. E. Stiefel, Einfuhrung in die Numerische Mathematik, B.G. Teubner Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart, 1961. C. Strachey, The Varieties of Programming Language, Oxford University Computing Laboratory, Programming Research Group, Technical Monograph PRG-10, March, 1973. P.M.B. Vitanyi, J. van Leeuwen, P. van Emde Boas (reds), Colloquium Complexiteit en Algoritmen: Deel 1, Mathematisch Centrum Amsterdam, 1982.

BOX 3 Books F.E.J.M. Baudet, De Maaltijd en de Keuken in de Middeleeuwen, A.W. Sijthoff, Leiden. N. Beets, Leven en Karakter van J.H. van den Palm, Te Leyden, D. Du Mortier en Zoon. N. Beets, Chatepie de la Saussaye, Haarlem de Erven F.Bohn. N. Bohr, Atomtheorie und Naturbeschreibung, vier aufsatze mit einer einleitenden ubersicht von Niels Bohr, Berlin Verlag Von Julius Springer, 1931. C. Delsman, Wiskundige Opgaven met de Oplossingen, door leden van het Wiskundig Genootschap, twaalfde deel, 4e stuk, Amsterdam, 1917. A. France, Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard, Paris, 1889. K.R. Gallas, Fransch Woordenboek: Tweede Deel, Sneek, J.F. Van Druten. J. Huizinga, Homo Ludens: Proeve Eener Bepaling van het Spel-element der Cultuur, H.D. Tjeenk Willink & Zoon N.V. -- Haarlem, 1940. D.D. Mayne, The Modern Business Speller, Powers & Lyons, 1901. N. Mulder, Uit den goeden ouden Tijd: Ruim 60, 70 jaar geleden, Zaandijk. -- P.J. Out, 1912. P. Reynders, Perspectief voor de Nijverheids- en Tekenakten, Uitgave N.V. Uitg.-Mij. AE. E. Kluwer - Deventer. J.J. Salverda de Grave, Essai sur quelques groupes de Mots empruntes par le Neerlandais au Latin ecrit, Amsterdam, Johannes Muller, 1900. A.D. Schoch, P. Kron, The Little Yankee, 4th ed., Ettlingen (Baden) und Leipzig, J. Bielefelds Verlag, 1930.

F. Schuh, J.G. Rutgers, Compendium der Hoogere Wiskunde, derde deel -- differentiaalrekening -- analytische meetkunde van de ruimte, integraalrekening. P. Noordhoff, Groningen, 1919. G.A. Walton, A.N.L. Walton, A Manual of Arithmetic, Brewer and Tileston, Boston, 1871. R. Witzenbock, Invariantedtheorie, P. Noordhoff, Groningen, 1923. BOX 4 Books P. Benacerraf, H. Putnam, Philosophy of mathematics, second edition, Cambridge University Press, 1985. W.K. Buhler, Gauss: a Biographical Study, Springer-Verlag, 1981. S-C. Chou, X-S. Gao, J-Z. Zhang, Machine Proofs in Geometry: Annotated Production of Readable Proofs for Geometry Theorems, Series on Applied Mathematics: Vol. 6. World Scientific Publishing, 1994. R. Courant, H. Robbins, What Is Mathematics?: an Elementary Approach to Ideas and Methods, Oxford University Press, 1941. With a personal note by Wim H.J. Feijen. H.S.M. Coxeter, Introduction to Geometry, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, 1969. Signed by Feijen, van Gasteren, and others. E. Engeler, Metamathematik der Elementarmathematik, Springer-Verlag, 1983. L. Gurko, Heroes, Highbrows and the Popular Mind, Freeport, New York, 1971. R. Honsberger, From Erdos to Kiev: Problems of Olympiad Caliber, the Mathematical Association of America, 1996. C.B. Jones, Software Development: a Rigorous Approach, Prentice Hall International, 1980. M. Kindt, Lessen in Projectieve Meetkunde, Epsilon Uitgaven Utrecht, 1996. M. Kline, Mathematical Thought: from Ancient to Modern Times: Vol. 1, Oxford University Press, 1972. M. Kline, Mathematical Thought: from Ancient to Modern Times: Vol.