The Letter S
The Letter S by Donald Knuthby Donald Knuth
Shares rank 37 of 60 articles by recommenders
A playful, elaborate hack by Donald Knuth that readers admire, though critics find nine pages of formulae for one letter excessive and spot an error in Fig 9.
A playful, elaborate hack by Donald Knuth that readers admire, though critics find nine pages of formulae for one letter excessive and spot an error in Fig 9.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Playful hack in the tradition of hacks
“I think this is in the finest tradition of hacks, even if it took decades.”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “The Letter S, by Donald Knuth [pdf]” Trusted author, Donald Knuth
“All of his books have been great”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “The Letter S, by Donald Knuth [pdf]”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Nine pages of formulae for one letter
“To spend nine pages full of mathematical formulae just to write a single letter”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “The Letter S, by Donald Knuth [pdf]” Fig 9 looks obviously wrong
“Fig 9 stood out to me as obviously wrong.”
Comment from 21 May 2026 in “The Letter S, by Donald Knuth [pdf]”
Other articles people recommend
The four most recommended other articles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programming as Theory Buildingby Peter Naur | 32 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Ur-Fascismby Umberto Eco | 18 | 2 | 90% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Politics and the English Languageby George Orwell | 14 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Grug Brained Developer by Carson Gross | 13 | 1 | 93% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Letter Sby Donald KnuthThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I think this is in the finest tradition of hacks, even if it took decades.”
“All of his books have been great”
“To spend nine pages full of mathematical formulae just to write a single letter”
“Fig 9 stood out to me as obviously wrong.”
“draw an S; next draw a more different S”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.