Computer scientists often deal with abstract problems that are hard to comprehend, but an exciting new algorithm matters to anyone who owns books and at least one shelf. The algorithm addresses something called the library sorting problem (more formally, the “list labeling” problem). The challenge is to devise a strategy for organizing books in some kind of sorted order — alphabetically, for instance — that minimizes how long it takes to place a new book on the shelf.
I’m not familiar with Quanta from before, but what a fantastic article. It explains the problem and the history in an engaging way that manages to be approachable to us without an academic background in CS while still retaining some academic substance. Very informative!
Comments like this are valuable. I would not have read that but for your well written praise.