Prehistory

A few decades before modern computers were invented, the mathematician Alonzo Church developed a language called the lambda calculus. He intended it as a tool for investigating the foundations of mathematics. The first person to realize the practical connection between programming and the lambda calculus was John McCarthy, who created Lisp in 1958.

— Real World Haskell

— by Bryan O’Sullivan, Don Stewart, and John Goerzen

2010.12.01 Wednesday ACHK