Combinators: A Centennial View (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781579550431)

Combinators have inspired ideas about computation ever since they were first invented in 1920, and in this innovative book, Stephen Wolfram provides a modern view of combinators and their significance. Informed by his work on the computational universe of possible programs and on computational language design, Wolfram explains new and existing ideas about combinators with unique clarity and stunning visualizations, as well as provides insights on their historical connections and the curious story of Moses Schfinkel, inventor of combinators. Though invented well before Turing machines, combinators have often been viewed as an inaccessibly abstract approach to computation. This book brings them to life as never before in a thought-provoking and broadly accessible exposition of interest across mathematics and computer science, as well as to those concerned with the foundations of formal and computational thinking, and with the history of ideas.

Author: Stephen Wolfram
ISBN-10: 1579550436
ISBN-13: 9781579550431
Publisher: Wolfram Media
Language: English
Published: 06/17/2021
Pages: 362
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.90lbs
Size: 9.80h x 7.70w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Foreword 08/05/2021