gooley@uicsl.UUCP (07/09/86)
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