Submitted by egdaylight on
The late 1960s were successful but also difficult years for Dijkstra: 1968 was the year of the Software Crisis in Garmisch and 1969 was a year of depression. In Dijkstra's words during the winter of 1970/71:
A next milestone was EWD249 "Notes on Structured Programming" written primarily for therapeutic reasons —and partly while I was in hospital— in 1969. In response to the completion of the THE Multiprogramming System —and, I am afraid, in response to its success— the Department of Mathematics had disbanded the group I had built up. My degradation from esteemed colleague to dangerous competitor caused me to suffer from a depression that lasted more than half a year. EWD249 marked my recovery. [EWD1000]
Apparently, Dijkstra had the possibility, in 1969, to continue his academic career in Stanford. He eventually chose to stay in Eindhoven [EWD300].