Article View: comp.lang.functional
Article #811Re: why lambda ?
From: Henson M C
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 1991 16:21
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 1991 16:21
12 lines
1197 bytes
1197 bytes
The following I have 'known' for years and years - but I can't remember who on earth told me. Moreover I have not even checked the reference. I can't be the only person in the world who believes what follows - if it's false that will be as interesting to me as it's 'truth' currently is !!!! ....... In Russell & Whitehead's 'principia' variables which occur in expressions have a circumflex ^ over them when they appear bound. It seems that at some point the notation mutated so that the bound variables were introduced with a larger circumflex - which of course looks like a capital lambda - later a lower case lambda was used by Church when he developed his calculus.
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<4808@servax0.essex.ac.uk>Path:
arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!ukc!servax0!csc2!hensmReferences:
<1952@seti.inria.fr>Show Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!ukc!servax0!csc2!hensm From: hensm@csc2.essex.ac.uk (Henson M C) Newsgroups: comp.lang.functional Subject: Re: why lambda ? Summary: lambda in principia Message-ID: <4808@servax0.essex.ac.uk> Date: 26 Feb 91 16:21:23 GMT References: <1952@seti.inria.fr> Sender: news@servax0.essex.ac.uk Reply-To: hensm@essex.ac.uk (Henson M C) Organization: University of Essex, Colchester, UK Lines: 12