Abstract

The Lambda Calculus has perplexed students of computer science for millennia, rendering many incapable of understanding even the most basic precepts of functional programming. This paper gently introduces the core concepts to the lay reader, assuming only a minimum of background knowledge in category theory, quantum chromodynamics, and paleomagnetism.

In addition, this paper goes on to its main results, showing how the Lambda Calculus can be used to easily prove the termination of Leibniz’ Hailstone numbers for all \(n > 0\), to show that matrix multiplication is possible in linear time, and to guarantee Scottish independence.