[Haskell-cafe] why the name lambda calculus?

[Jack Henahan]

The short answer is "because Church said so". But yes, it is basically because λ is the abstraction operator in the calculus.

Why not alpha or beta calculus? What would we call alpha and beta conversion, then? :D

On Aug 21, 2011, at 12:37 PM, C K Kashyap wrote:

> Hi,
> Can someone please tell me what is the root of the name lambda calculus? Is it just because of the symbol lambda that is used?
> Why not alpha or beta calculus?
> Regards,
> Kashyap
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Jack Henahan
jhenahan at uvm.edu
==
Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.
-- Edsger Dijkstra
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