Exploring the Future: Trends and Discontinuities

Abstract

I first met Professor Dr. Edsger W. Dijkstra on 7 November 1980 on a cold day in Eindhoven. He met me at my hotel and we drove to his home in Nuenen where he introduced his wife Ria. We had coffee and began to talk about mathematics. As our conversation developed, it became clear that although I had had a formal training in physics and in the sort of mathematics physicists use, there was so much of mathematics I did not understand. Over the years, Edsger Dijkstra has illuminated a world of beauty and elegance whose existence I had not suspected. Thanks to his patience and skill, I have seen some of the light, but it is still a mystery why his critics seem to believe that additional lighting in general is not required.