The Professor Jokes in Introduction to Algorithms, Second Edition.

Are you wondering what is the significance of the professor names sprinkled throughout Introduction to Algorithms, Second Edition? They are all bad jokes and puns related to the topic at hand. Here's a handy guide that explains them all.

Page 87, Professor Diogenes
Diogenes of Sinope went about ancient Greece in search of an honest man. The problem is about searching for an ``honest'' VLSI chip.

Page 104, Professor Marceau
This one is a horrible pun. The question is about how to permute. Marcel Marceau is a famous mime. That is, he is mute. Sorry about that.

Page 104, Professor Kelp
Julius Kelp is the Nutty Professor, as played by Jerry Lewis in the original film of the same name. Professor Kelp has discovered a formula that changes his identity. The exercise is about how to permute in which the identity permutation cannot occur. This professor joke is the only one in the book in which the named professor really is a professor (though a fictional one).

Page 105, Professor Armstrong
This exercise is about cyclic permutations, and it of course refers to Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France bicycle race.

Page 161, Professors Howard, Fine, and Howard
The Three Stooges were a comedy trio that made several short films in the early days of Hollywood. Their names were Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard. (Curly and Moe were brothers, and Curly was later replaced by another brother, Shemp.) The problem is about a sorting algorithm that splits its input into three parts.

Page 193, Professor Olay
The exercise asks about an oil pipeline, and the professor's name refers to the cosmetic product Oil of Olay.

Page 229, Professor Marley
In A Christmas Carol, Ebeneezer Scrooge's deceased partner, Jacob Marley, appears to him wrapped in chains. The exercise is about hashing with chaining.

Page 260, Professor Bunyan
The exercise asks about search trees, and Paul Bunyan was a legendary lumberjack in American folklore.

Page 287, Professor Teach
No, this professor name has nothing to do with education. The exercise asks you to show that the sentinel's color is always black. Edward Teach was the given name of the famed pirate Blackbeard.

Page 293, Professors Skelton and Baron
The solution to the exercise has to do with two red nodes in a row. The professors are Red Skelton (a comedian) and Red Baron (the WW I flying ace).

Page 331, Professor Canty
Here's a literary reference. In the Mark Twain novel The Prince and the Pauper, a young prince of England and a pauper boy exchange places. The pauper's name is Tom Canty. The exercise asks about items exchanging places on the two assembly lines.

Page 350, Professor Capulet
Juliet Capulet, in the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, made a hasty, suboptimal decision, which is what the exercise asks about.

Page 367, Professor Stewart
The problem is about planning a party, and who better to do so than Martha Stewart!

Page 384, Professor Midas
King Midas was famous for his greed, and hence the connection to an exercise on a greedy algorithm.

Page 488, Professor McGee
Another bad pun: an old-time radio program featured a character named Fibber McGee. The exercise is about Fibonacci heaps.

Page 496, Professor Pinocchio
Another bad pun here. As you surely know, Pinocchio's nose grew whenever he fibbed, and the exercise is on Fibonacci heaps.

Page 496, Professor Pisano
Fibonacci's real name was actually Leonardo Pisano.

Page 518, Professor Dante
Dante wrote about the levels of Hell, and this exercise asks about the levels of nodes.

Pages 549-550, Professor Bumstead
Another bad pun: Dagwood Bumstead is a comic-strip character, and the example is about a dag.

Page 557, Professor Deaver
The exercise is on strongly connected components, and Michael Deaver used his connections to excess in the Reagan administration.

Page 566, Professor Sabatier
This exercise is about cuts in graphs, and Sabatier is a maker of fine knives.

Page 574, Professor Toole
Another literary reference. F. X. Toole is the author of the novel The Cut Man, about a ringside ``cut man'' in boxing. Toole is a cut man himself.

Page 640, Professor Greenstreet
This exercise is about reweighting, and Sidney Greenstreet played ``The Fat Man'' in the film The Maltese Falcon.

Page 640, Professor Michener
Yet another literary reference. The exercise asks about a source vertex. James Michener wrote the novel The Source.

Page 650, Professor Adam
In the Bible, Adam's sons, Cain and Abel, really did not get along.

Page 693, Professor Spock
Here we honor Mr. Spock, the beloved character of Star Trek.

Page 722, Professor Corrigan
The problem asks about placing comparators the wrong way in a merging network. Aviator Douglas ``Wrong-Way'' Corrigan was notorious for attempting to fly from New York to California, but ending up in Ireland instead!

Page 939, Professor Powell
A bad pun. The exercise is about collinear points. And we are of course referring to Colin Powell, former U.S. general and, as of the publication date, U.S. Secretary of State.

Page 939, Professor Amundsen
The exercise requires exploring of polar angles, and Roald Amundsen was a famous polar explorer, and the first man to reach the South Pole.

Page 946, Professor Maginot
The Maginot Line was a fortification that France built around its borders. It proved to be not particularly effective.

Page 961, Professor Smothers
The Smothers Brothers were a U.S. variety act in the 1960's and 1970's. They were a ``close pair.''

Page 963, Professor Charon
Another bad pun here. Charon was the boatman of Greek mythology who ferried souls across the River Styx. The problem asks about picking up sticks.

Page 995, Professor Sartre
The exercise asks about the existence of an algorithm, and of course Jean-Paul Sartre was a famous existentialist.

Page 1002, Professor Jagger
The exercise is about the satisfiability problem, and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones sang, ``I can't get no satisfaction.''

Page 1027, Professor Nixon
Who better to reference in a problem about covering than the man responsible for the Watergate cover-up, Richard Nixon!

Page 1077, Professor Narcissus
In Greek mythology, Narcissus was in love with himself. The exercise asks about reflexive relations.

Pages 1105 and 1117, Professors Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
In Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the play begins with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern flipping a coin only to discover that heads are produced consecutively.