Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 August 29

= August 29 =

was McCarthy inspired by the Talmud?
Was McCarthy Jewish? Also, I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the inventor of LISP was inspired by the newsgroup-like, recursive and/or nesting nature of the Talmud (rabbi so-and-so comments on rabbi's so-and-so comment on rabbi so-and-so.) Is this true? 78.53.240.75 (talk) 13:01, 29 August 2017 (UTC)


 * You are likely confusing a story about Solomon Lefschetz with one about John McCarthy (computer scientist). Lisp wasn't really inspired by anything. It is a straight-forward attempt to do lambda calculus on a computer. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 15:09, 29 August 2017 (UTC)


 * what about Lefschetz? what is the story? 78.53.240.75 (talk) 17:20, 29 August 2017 (UTC)


 * I don't know of a specific story. I never met him. I know he was missing a hand - possibly both. Other than that, I heard that he joked a lot. He was McCarthy's advisor for his PhD. So, they have intertwined stories. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 18:28, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Both. &#40;&#40;&#40;The Quixotic Potato&#41;&#41;&#41; (talk)  19:17, 30 August 2017 (UTC)