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There's a big difference between a hundred steps and a million steps - if you're doing it by hand, you see this difference right away.
— Stephen Vavasis
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Nov. 19, 2005
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This will be the longest word you'll encounter in this course. In fact I'll write it down just so I can read it out. I love saying this word.
— Stephen Vavasis,
Proceeds to write down "submultiplicativity"
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Sept. 14, 2004
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Cancellation error is like when go to your butcher, asking for two pounds of salami, and he weighs it in a canoe.
— Stephen Vavasis,
CS 222
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1998
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The ocean is just a differential equation.
— Stephen Vavasis,
CS 222
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1998
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Newton came up with this, and I'm really happy to say that the greatest mathematician who ever lived was the founder of my field of study.
— Stephen Vavasis,
CS 222
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1998
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Hauskholder came up with this algorithm when he was in his fifties, which gave me quite a relief. Because, you know, Gauss came up with all his stuff when he was twenty. Hauskholder showed me that I still have time left.
— Stephen Vavasis,
who is in his mid-30s
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1998
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When I was learning to cross-country ski, they told me about the fall line, but I really think of it as the negative gradient.
— Stephen Vavasis,
CS 222
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1998
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Exam question: Hunter Rawlings, the president of Cornell, is taller than Professor Vavasis. Can you name anyone else taller than Professor Vavasis? (Full credit will also be given if you can name anyone shorter than Professor Vavasis.)
— Stephen Vavasis,
CS 222
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1998
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Backwards stability is the holy grail of a scientific computer scientist.
— Stephen Vavasis,
CS 222
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1998
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Scientific computation is the oldest, and most interesting part of computer science. Someday, when we have holodecks like on Star Trek, everyone will be begging for us, and we'll make millions. But in the meantime, we'll just continue on crack propagation.
— Stephen Vavasis,
CS 222
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1998
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