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Hofstadter on Lisp (1983)

(gist.github.com)
372 points Eric_WVGG | 1 comments | 16 Oct 24 13:44 UTC | HN request time: 0.328s | source
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kjellsbells ◴[16 Oct 24 15:32 UTC] No.41860281[source]▶
Regardless of your opinion on the utility of Lisp, this is an exemplary piece of writing. Crisp, engaging, informative.

God I miss old Scientific American. Today's SA isn't especially terrible, but old SA, like old BYTE, was reliably enlightening.

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1. jhbadger ◴[16 Oct 24 17:55 UTC] No.41861805[source]▶
Old school SA was written assuming a basic level of scientific and mathematical background. Many people reading it were professional scientists and engineers who read it to learn about developments in other fields than their own. Current SA seems to be written at a level similar to the science coverage in newspapers, written for the hypothetical "layman" who is supposedly frightened of mathematics and anything technical. I couldn't imagine someone like Martin Gardner or Hofstadter writing in SA today.