Conceptual Background for Symbolic Computation

This paper is a tutorial which examines the three major models of computation--the Turing Machine, Combinators, and Lambda Calculus--with respect to their usefulness to practical engineering of computing machines. While the classical von Neumann architecture can be deduced from the Turing Machine model, and Combinator machines have been built on an experimental basis, no serious attempts have been made to construct a Lambda Calculus machine. This paper gives a basic outline of how to incorporate a Lambda Calculus capability into a von Neumann type architecture, maintaining full backward compatibility and at the same time making optimal use of its advantages and technological maturity for the Lambda Calculus capability