Hofstadter on Lisp (1983)

> Every computer language has arbitrary features, and most languages are in fact overloaded with them. A few, however, such as Lisp and Algol, are built around a kernel that seems as natural as a branch of mathematics.

Algol? The kernel of Algol seems as natural as a branch of mathematics? Can anyone who has used Algol give their opinion of this statement?

I did some Algol programming back in the late 80s - when it had mostly been obsoleted by Pascal, Modula, and even C for what we called "structured programming" back then.

I remember it as a likeable, economical, expressive language, without significant warts, and which had clearly been influential by being ahead of its time.

So my guess is that Hofstadter was just referring to its practical elegance - rather than the more theoretical elegance of Lisp.

Out of curiosity: which dialect on Algol, and on what platform?