Lambda calculus

In mathematical logic and computer science, lambda calculus, also written as λ-calculus, is a formal system for function definition, function application and recursion. It was introduced by Alonzo Church in the 1930s as part of an investigation into the foundations of mathematics. After the original system was shown to be logically inconsistent (the Kleene–Rosser paradox), Church isolated and published in 1936 just the portion relevant to computa... more
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Date Contributors Why this is interesting
  • 1932
  • Church developed the theory of lambda calculus as a new formulation of logical deduction, and in 1936 realized that lambda terms could be used to express every function that could ever be computed by a machine. (Turning was his student at Princeton from 1936-1938.) Church reduced all calculation to the notion of substitution.
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