George Forsythe and the development of computer science
Donald E. Knuth · Communications of the ACM · 1972
The sudden death of George Forsythe this spring was a serious loss to everyone associated with computing.When we recall the many things he contributed to the field during his lifetime, we consider ourselves fortunate that computer science has had such an able leader.My purpose in this article is to review George Forsythe's contributions to the establishment of Computer Science as a recognized discipline.It is generally agreed that he, more than any other man, is responsible for the rapid development of computer science in the world's colleges and universities.His foresight, combined with his untiring efforts to spread the gospel of computing, have had a significant and lasting impact; one might almost regard him as the Martin Luther of the Computer Reformation!Since George's publications express these ideas so well, I believe the best way to summarize his work is to repeat many of the things he said, in his own words.This article consists mainly of the quotations that particularly struck me as I reread his papers recently.Indeed, much of what follows belongs in a computer-science supplement to Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. From Numerical Analysis to Computer ScienceGeorge's early training and research in numerical analysis was a good blend of theory and practice:The fact that the CPC was generally wrong when I knew the answer made me wonder what it was like for someone who didn't know what to expect.[76, p. 5] Starting in 1948 he worked for the National Bureau of Standards' Institute for Numerical Analysis in Los Angeles, California, where he did extensive programming for the SWAC computer.In 1954 this Institute became part of U.C.L.A., and he put a great deal of energy into the teaching of mathematics and numerical analysis.He also worked on nonnumerical problems, such as the tabulation of all possible semigroups on four elements; at this time, he 721