This translation focuses on publications by Donald E. Knuth, one of the world’s leading computer programmers, that were addressed primarily to a general audience rather than to specialists. These fifteen papers discuss the history of computer science from ancient Babylon to modern times and survey the field of computer science and the nature of algorithms.

Donald E. Knuth is a renowned and influential computer scientist. He is professor emeritus of the art of computer programming at Stanford University. Patrick Cégielski is professor at the Sénart-Fontainebleau Institute of Technology of the University Paris Est Créteil.