From Newsgroup: rec.puzzles


Paul Abrahams -- the name is kind of familiar.... (like that of Joel Moses)


>>>> Yes, Paul W. Abrahams was indeed part of the LISP 1.5 team at MIT. He contributed notably to the development of LISP 1.5, particularly writing parts of the print and read programs.

The LISP 1.5 Programmer's Manual, published in 1962, credits Paul Abrahams along with John McCarthy, Klim Maling, Daniel J. Edwards, Timothy P. Hart, and Michael I. Levin, among others, for developing this influential version of LISP at the MIT AI Lab.


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Paul W. Abrahams completed his Ph.D. thesis at MIT in 1963 titled "Machine Verification of Mathematical Proof."

His work was one of the early applications of the programming language LISP for automating the checking and verification of mathematical proofs. The thesis developed foundational ideas on how computers could be used to verify correctness of formal mathematical arguments, a key early contribution to automated theorem proving and formal methods in computer science.

AbrahamsrCO work demonstrated important challenges and potential in formal verification that influenced later research in programming languages, proof assistant systems, and logic in computing. He also contributed to the early development of LISP implementations at MIT AI Lab.

Overall, his Ph.D. thesis remains a landmark in the intersection of mathematics, computer science, and artificial intelligence, especially in formalizing rigorous machine-checked mathematics.[1][2][5][7][10]

[1](https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/800025.1198362) [2](https://www.chessprogramming.org/Paul_W._Abrahams) [3](http://arxiv.org/vc/arxiv/papers/0812/0812.4852v65.pdf) [4](https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/131022/recent-submissions?offset=93) [5](https://www.logic.at/ftp98/papers/zinn.pdf) [6](https://www.chessprogramming.org/index.php?title=Paul_W._Abrahams&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop)
[7](https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/161775?show=full) [8](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570868305000753) [9](http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/history/lisp/node7.html) [10](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/800025.1198360)
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