summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/info/digests/texline/no14/3-16
blob: 2422e27c046b7bbc7b5b7837d35a6f33b437898d (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
\def\stress#1{{\sl#1\/}}
\title{Book Review}\noindent
{\sl 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated.} Donald E.~Knuth. A-R Editions, 1991.
ISBN 0-89579-252-4, 268p.
\smallskip
\noindent
Scholar, Mathematician, Computer Scientist,
Typographer -- these are probably the designations that come to mind in
conjunction with the name of Professor Donald E.~Knuth.  But in {\sl 3.16\/}, his
most recent work, Don reveals an entirely different side to his nature -- he
is also a~Bible Class leader in Menlo Park, California, not far from Stanford
University, Palo Alto, where he teaches and conducts his research.

When I~was given {\sl 3.16\/} (as a~gift, not to review -- that committment came
later!), I~confess to being a~little apprehensive: I~am neither a~practicing
Christian, nor have I~any particular interest in matters either religious or
historical, yet the subject matter of {\sl 3.16\/} -- an annotated quasi-random
sampling of biblical texts -- seemed intended for either Christians or
religio-historians; it~most certainly seemed uninspiring to an equestrian
computer typesetter.  On opening the book, I~felt even less interested: Knuth
had chosen to set it~in Computer Modern, a~typeface which I~feel contributes
little to the \ae sthetics of the printed page.  it~was, therefore, with some
foreboding that I~started to read {\sl 3.16\/}.

And then a~miracle happened (no, I~wasn't converted to \LaTeX\ -- it~would take
more than Don Knuth to achieve either of those miracles) -- I~found that I~was
reading every word that Don had written, and thoroughly enjoying it.  All of
a~sudden, a~subject which had totally failed to catch my interest at school
came to life under Knuth's guidance; the biblical characters, whose stories
I~had been forced to learn at school, and whose stories I~had as rapidly
forgotten, suddenly sprang to life for me; no longer dry-as-dust characters and
events, learned by rote to avoid some unspeakable punishment, these were real
people, living in real times, brought to life by Knuth's re-telling of their
stories. And the Computer Modern? What Computer Modern?  Within three pages,
it~had fulfilled its r\^ole; it~had ceased to exist as a~typeface, and was
simply the medium through which Knuth was recounting some of the finest stories
ever told; no longer instrusive, no longer even noticed, it~had achieved the
goal of every typeface: it~had become simply a~part of the printed page. 

But to begin at the beginning.  {\sl 3.16\/} is the printed culmination of
Don's efforts to lead a~Bible Study class in his home town of Menlo Park. 
Don had participated in Bible Study classes for some fifteen years before he
felt confident enough to attempt to lead a~class of his own, and being the
scholar that he is, he put as much effort into preparing the material for his
new class as he would into preparing for any new academic venture.  He
considered, and rejected, three possible approaches to bible study: (a)~the
systematic study of one book; (b)~the identification and discussion of
recurring themes; and (c),~`lectionaries' -- texts or themes which have
become associated with particular dates in the Christian calendar.  Instead,
he selected as his approach the concept of quasi-random, or stratified,
sampling -- he would concentrate on just one verse from just one chapter in
every book of the bible. By taking one verse from every book, he ensured that
every biblical contributor was represented; and by taking the verses `at
random' from each book, he ensured that the sample was representative of the
bible as a~whole.  But the verses were not truly selected at random; because
the book evolved from a~taught Bible Study class, Knuth needed to be able to
ensure that the verses for the whole course were predictable right from the
outset; that way, even if a~student missed a~class or more, he or she could
know which verse would be the subject of study when they next attended the
class, and could thus study the material ahead of time, so as to be
prepared.  Knuth therefore decided that, each week, the \stress {same} verse
from the \stress {same} chapter would be studied; only the \stress {book}
would vary.  (By `the same verse', and `the same chapter', I mean the verse
and chapter with the same \stress {number}; obviously the \stress {content}
of the chapter and verse changed with each book).  As the chapter and verse
wre not truly selected at random, it~was also necessary to ensure that the
selected pair were reasonably representative of the book as a whole; if the
verse occurred too early in the book, the author might not really be under
way with the story; if it~occurred too late, there might be an embarrassing
number of books which simply didn't have such a~chapter/verse! There was one
final constraint: Knuth needed to be able to ensure that at least one
book/chapter/verse would yield a~text that would truly merit study; after
all, if chapters and verses are picked at random, there is a~distinct
possibility that a~significant proportion might be monumentally boring; even
the bible must have some flat bits in it, and a~random sample might
accidentally hit on rather too many of these.  He therefore decided to select
the chapter/verse corresponding to one of the most well-known texts in the
bible: that of John 3:16 (`For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should be not
perish, but have everlasting life').  Thus the texts selected for study were
those from Chapter~3, verse~16, of each book in the bible. 

Unfortunately, not every book in the bible \stress {has} a~Chapter~3, and of
those that do, not all have a~verse~16; Knuth decided to simply ignore those
that have no Chapter~3, and those that have neither Chapter~3, verse~16 nor
Chapter~4; for the others (those that do not have a~Chapter~3, verse~16, but
which do have a~Chapter~4), Knuth chose simply to ignore the chapter boundary,
and to take the sixteenth verse starting at Chapter~3, verse~1.  The omitted
books were Obadiah, Haggai, Titus, 2 John, 3 John and Jude; 59 books remained
to be studied.

Knuth is known to all of us as a~scholar supreme; none the less, it~may come
as a surprise to many to discover that he was by no means willing simply to
accept the received wisdom of the King James translation of the bible;
instead, in preparing the material for {\sl 3.16\/}, he compared more than a~dozen of
the best available translations, and went back to the original Greek or
Hebrew whenever there was any doubt in his mind as to the best rendering of
any particular phrase.  The results speak for themselves; although they may
seem strange to those of us weaned on King James (for example, he renders
John 3:16 as `Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only child,
so that all people with faith in him can escape destruction, and live
forever'), there is no doubt that they are accurate renderings of the
original.

The book, as I~have already mentioned is typeset in Computer Modern.  But
the typesetting is deliberately plain in order to provide the maximum
contrast with what must surely be the the most innovative element of the
design: every text is reproduced on a~full page in the most beautiful
calligraphy, hand lettered by 59 of the world's leading calligraphers. 
Herman Zapf has produced the cover and illustrated John 3:16; the other books
have been illustrated by calligraphers from Anckers to Zig\'any, via
Billawala and Kindersley.  The results are outstanding, and worthy of a~place
on any amateur calligrapher's wall (they are also available separately, on
a~full colour poster, lest anybody is tempted to buy and destroy a~copy of
the book simply for the calligraphy contained therein).  Each text is treated
in exactly four pages (and I~mean \stress {exactly} four pages -- Knuth has
written the text so that not a~single page falls a~single line short);  the
opening spread for each text consists of a~discussion of the book as a~whole
(verso), and the calligraphic illustration of the text (recto); the closing
spread consists of a~small, conventionally lettered, version of the text,
inset into the verso left margin, and a~two-page discussion of the text and
of the many issues and questions which it~raises. The discussions are as
erudite as the illustrations are beautiful; linguistics, theology, history,
geography: all are treated to the benefit of Knuth's considerable intellect,
and we, the readers, are the ultimate beneficiaries as he brings to life
events which took place up to three and a~half thousand years ago. 

Criticisms?  Only two.  The book should be available case bound;
Smythe-sewn binding doesn't do justice to a~work of this quality.  And I'm
sorry to see that Don has stopped putting circumflexes on his \stress
{r\^ole}s\dots

Afterthought:  Almost as soon as I'd finished reading my copy, I~went out
and bought two more, for friends who I~knew would appreciate both the subject
matter and the treatment; if everyone who received a~copy did likewise, 
we~could start the most successful and well-intentioned chain letter in the 
world!
\author{\copyright Philip Taylor}