The Archive of Edsger Dijkstra's Library

Preserved in Leuven, Belgium

The personal library of Edsger Dijkstra, once located at his residence in Nuenen (as seen in January 2011), consisted of an extensive array of manuscripts, scientific texts, papers, and booklets. A significant portion of this intellectual treasure has since been kept in Nuenen archived by the author in Leuven.

🎓 The Leiden University Years

During his time as a physics student at the University of Leiden, Dijkstra maintained meticulous records. Most of his university notebooks have been preserved.

The curriculum he followed in the Netherlands included a diverse range of subjects:

• Chemistry:
  • Inorganic Chemistry
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Organic Chemistry
• Mathematics & Physics:
  • Calculus I & II
  • Physics I & II
  • Function theory I
  • Analytical Geometry I, II, and III
  • $\text{Thermodynamics}$
  • $\int \text{Measure and integration theory}$
  • $\text{Relativity theory}$ (including the Mathematical theory of Relativity)
  • Descriptive Geometry
  • Electrodynamics
  • Newtonian Mechanics & Statistical Mechanics
• Philosophy: Logic

Observation on "Logic": Upon reviewing the notes for the "Logic" course, it becomes evident that the syllabus focused on the classical philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It appears that no modern logical frameworks were addressed in this specific course.

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📚 The Influence of E.T. Bell

Dijkstra showed a marked interest in the works of E.T. Bell, particularly starting in the mid-1970s. This is evidenced by frequent citations in documents such as EWD512 and EWD682.

Key Bell titles in the collection:

1. Men of Mathematics (Vol I & II, 1937)
2. Mathematics: Queen and Servant of Science (British ed. 1952; reprints through 1966)
3. The Magic of Numbers (1946/1974)
4. The Development of Mathematics (1945)

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📦 The Nuenen Collection & Transition

When visiting Dijkstra's home in January 2011, his office remained crowded with literature. This included several boxes transported from Texas between 1999 and 2000. The office contained highly sensitive materials, including his medical dossier. With the consent of the Dijkstra family, a substantial portion of the office was cleared for archiving.

Archive Migration Path

Inventory Checklist

• Process Boxes 1-4 (Books)
• Process Box 5 (Papers/Letters)
• Process Box 6 (Posters/Books)
• Process Box 7 (Books)
• Process Box 8 (Lecture Notes)
• Process Box 9 (Obituaries/Tributes)
• Process Box 10 (EWDs/Manuscripts)
• Process Box 11 (Prizes/Pictures)
• Process Box 12 (Correspondence)
• Process Box 13 (Booklets/Correspondence)
• Process Box 14 (Correspondence with Ole-Johan Dahl)
• Process Box 15 (Selected EWDs)
• Process Box 16 (Translated Books/Articles)

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🔍 Detailed Inventory: Box 1

The following table details the specific contents of the first box of books:

Author/Editor	Title	Year/Detail	Note
F.L. Broy (ed)	Program Construction	1979	LNCS, Springer-Verlag
Hersh	Descartes' Dream	1987	World According to Mathematics
Dunham	Euler: The Master of Us All	MAA	Dolciani Mathematical Expositions
van Gasteren	On the shape of mathematical arguments	1988	PhD Thesis; contains Dijkstra's handwriting
Gries (ed)	Programming Methodology	1978	IFIP WG2.3 Articles
Gries	The Science of Programming	1981	Includes signed note to Dijkstra (Oct 14, 1981)
Schneider	A Logical Approach to Discrete Math	1993	Springer-Verlag
Habermann	On the Harmonious Co-operation of Abstract Machines	1967	PhD Thesis, Eindhoven
Harel	First-Order Dynamic Logic	LNCS	Springer-Verlag
Hartree	Calculating Instruments and Machines	1950	Cambridge University Press
Hoare & He Jifeng	Unifying Theories of Programming	1998	Note to Edsger & Ria (Sept 1999)
Randell	Software Engineering Techniques	1969	NATO Conference, Rome
Klint (red)	Colloquium Hogere Programmeertalen...	1980	Mathematisch Centrum Amsterdam
Madey (ed)	Structured Programming	2003	ETAPS, Warsaw
Rota (eds)	A History of Computing in the 20th Century	1980	Academic Press
Minsky	Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines	1967	Prentice-Hall
NPL	Report	1961	2nd ed., Dept. of Scientific/Industrial Research
Randell	Software Engineering	1968	NATO Conference, Garmisch
von Neumann	Collected Works, Vol V	-	Design of Computers/Automata
Petri	Kommunikation mit Automaten	1962	PhD Thesis, Bonn
Randell (ed)	The Origins of Digital Computers	1973	Springer-Verlag
Rutishauser	Automatische Rechenplanfertigung...	-	ETH Zurich
de Santillana	The Crime of Galileo	1961	Mercury Books No 14

Data Structure of the Archive

{
  "archive_location": "Leuven, Belgium",
  "source": "Nuenen, Netherlands",
  "categories": [
    "Books",
    "Manuscripts",
    "Correspondence",
    "EWDs",
    "PhD Dissertations"
  ],
  "special_items": "Medical Dossier"
}