[deckar01]

You probably just need a few prerequisites. Even if you did study data structures, algorithms, and combinatorics previously, you would need to have your head wrapped around the subjects to fully understand this lecture.

I would also keep in mind that Donald Knuth probably spent more than an hour before understanding the topic.

Something that I think anyone can take away from this lecture is a story of discovering new mathematical relationships. He starts with a function that correlates to a logical problem, changes the inputs in an new (strange) way, then studies the output to form a theory that connects to the original problem.

The key was recognizing old results in a new problem.

[cowsandmilk]

> Something that I think anyone can take away from this lecture is a story of discovering new mathematical relationships. He starts with a function that correlates to a logical problem, changes the inputs in an new (strange) way, then studies the output to form a theory that connects to the original problem.

This type of mathematical exploration seems to be the story of his life. See Quarter-imaginary base for him doing the same thing in high school.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quater-imaginary_base

[jdnier]

At one point in the video he suggests (with a laugh) the name imagin-ary to go along with binary, ternary, n-ary, etc.

[brudgers]

I would also keep in mind that Donald Knuth probably spent more than...

...fifty years writing a 1comprehensive 12 chapter book on compilers. The reason: things like this are relevant to its scope