So today I learned of the existence of Lambda Calculus. When I explained to Clint that it was the mathematical foundation of Recursion (and Caculability) and that I was changing my middle name to Recursion (or at least making it recursive somehow), he walked me up to his office and pulled a bright yellow book off of his bookcase entitled The Lambda Calculus: it's syntax and semantics by HP Barendregt (North Holland Press, 1981), put it in my hands and said: "This book will kick your ass."
So today I started getting my ass kicked in a slightly more serious way. I'm very glad now for the class I had last semester in discrete math, as my first glance at LC showed some symbols that were a little familiar. But my first glance also showed me a typesetter's nightmare of symbols that really really weren't. In fact, it looks like the kind of text that Lovecraft might have described in a story shortly before the protagonist's clothes are found in a noisome puddle of primal goo. My lucky day, then. I probably need help.
No comments:
Post a Comment