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I have some background in set theory and automata and I am looking for a good place to start with lambda calculus.

edited Jul 7 2011 at 12:13

Giuseppe
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asked Jul 2 2011 at 16:04

fishfish
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Todd Trimble · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-02 16:29:28Z UTC

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There is, of course, the very famous book by Barendregt, which doesn't require much background except for the usual mathematical maturity. He also has some introductory notes here.

answered Jul 2 2011 at 16:29

Todd Trimble
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Justin Hilburn · Answer 2 · 2011-10-21 00:25:38Z UTC

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Proof and Types is a good place to learn about the Curry-Howard isomorphism.

answered Oct 21 2011 at 0:25

Justin Hilburn
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Pierre Lescanne · Answer 3 · 2011-10-20 20:32:03Z UTC

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Another excellent book is "Lambda-calculus, types and models" Ellis Horwood (1993) by Jean-Louis Krivine http://www.pps.jussieu.fr/~krivine/articles/Lambda.pdf

answered Oct 20 2011 at 20:32

Pierre Lescanne
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Dominic Mulligan · Answer 4 · 2011-07-07 09:30:17Z UTC

The best books that I've found are:

Very basic: Hankin, An introduction to the lambda calculus for computer scientists.
Advanced: Sorensen and Urzyczyn, Lectures on the Curry-Howard isomorphism.
Advanced: Hindley, Basic simple type theory.
The Bible: Barendregt, The lambda calculus: its syntax and semantics.

David White · Answer 5 · 2011-07-02 19:49:33Z UTC

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I really enjoy Types and Programming Languages by Benjamin C. Pierce. We used this for a course on the lambda calculus, and I felt this was a great way for a mathematician to learn the subject

answered Jul 2 2011 at 19:49

David White
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Antonio E. Porreca · Answer 6 · 2011-07-02 19:32:39Z UTC

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An introductory book that seems very nice to me is Lambda-Calculus and Combinators. An introduction by J. Roger Hindley and Jonathan P. Seldin.

answered Jul 2 2011 at 19:32

Antonio E. Porreca
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Igor Rivin · Answer 7 · 2011-07-02 16:47:53Z UTC

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Stoy's book:

Joseph E. Stoy, Denotational Semantics: The Scott-Strachey Approach to Programming Language Semantics. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1977

Is a classic, and highly recommended.

answered Jul 2 2011 at 16:47

Igor Rivin
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What is some good introduction to lambda calculus?

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