If I recall correctly this was Brooks stance - can&#x27;t remember if it was the mythical man month or one of the related essays. But they&#x27;re approaching it from different angles: Brooks manifesto was very much in the commercial setting. Knuth perhaps inhabits that more platonic problem domain. For me it&#x27;s quite a philosophical pursuit and for those programming in an applied scientific context maybe it&#x27;s more em scientific.