Peter Norvig seems to be a polymath who can solve and explain any problem at hand. The only arsenal he needs is a programming language. For the time being it is Python.<p>But how does one achieve such proficiency at solving problems of such varying degree and explaining them so lucidly?
Some of it was good fortune I think.<p>One of Norvig's first jobs was working for Margret Hamilton.<p>In two dimensions. It's hard to think of a better role model. On the other hand, Norvig left consulting when he left Hamilton and went into academia for a decade.<p>Which means Norvig spent the decade from his mid-twenties to his mid-thirties in an environment that valued the <i>development</i> of clear communications and valued the ability to teach.<p>Like anything, what seems to be magic isn't. Norvig sounds professorial because he was a professor during a critical decade of his career. Whatever wisdom he has, has come from the usual route: age. And I suspect his insights are mostly the result of experience like everything else.<p>To put it another way, if you want to be like Norvig, work hard and stay in school.<p>Good luck.