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From: gooley@uicsl.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sci
Subject: Re: Parapsychology: more on the dec
Message-ID: <74300001@uicsl>
Date: Tue, 8-Jul-86 19:58:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: uicsl.74300001
Posted: Tue Jul  8 19:58:00 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 10-Jul-86 01:44:38 EDT
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Nf-From: uicsl.UUCP!gooley    Jul  8 18:58:00 1986


There was an article in Electronics magazine (Dec. 23, 1985, pp. 25-6)
about using the Laws of Form representation for simplifying Lisp and Prolog
programs, since there is only one way to express a Boolean function using
Spencer-Brown's notation.  Spencer-Brown's "cross" becomes a pair of
parentheses; a series of expressions inside parentheses are NORed together,
and double-parentheses therefore cancel.  I borrowed a library copy of "The
Laws of Form" out of curiosity.  The notation does seem to make Boolean
expressions easy to simplify, but I can't see much else of value.  The
writing style and terminology are needlesly mysterious, even "mystical" at
times.  Spencer-Brown claims (if I understand him properly) that he and his
brother invented the ring oscillator.  All very peculiar.

Mark Gooley, CSG,CSL,UIUC. !uiucdcs!uicsl!gooley