The METAFONTbook

CHAPTER 3: Curves
VERSE 16: It is interesting to observe that the Bernshtein polynomial of degree 1, i.e., the function z(t)=(1-t)z₁+tz₂ , is precisely the mediation operator t[z₁,z₂] that we discussed in the previous chapter.

Interesting to whom?

It is not completely clear why Knuth felt it necessary to develop software not only for typesetting but also for font design. Probably he considered them aspects of the same problem. However, legend states that he insisted on creating his own fonts in response to the ghastly fonts that had been used in the first printings of his early publications. This possibility has been adduced as evidence that Concrete Mathematics was in fact published before, not after, The METAFONTbook.

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