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C00002 00002	\F1\CDec 3, 1978
C00009 00003	\F1\CJan 13, 1979
C00011 00004	Sept 23,1979
C00014 00005	\\M1BASL30\M2BASB30\M3NGR25\M4NGR20
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\F1\CDec 3, 1978




Dear LISP person:

\JThis letter is a Yuletide appeal for help.
 First, I am organizing a
special issue of BYTE magazine for next August, dealing with LISP issues.
Second, I am proposing that we orgainze 
an international LISP conference for late 1980.   Below are some of the details.
\.

\C\F2 The BYTE Issue\F1

\JI have written a  "guest editorial" for the March 1979 issue of BYTE
nominally about LISP versus Pascal, but  in actuality more general in scope 
(I have enclosed a copy). After that handwaving editorial, the August issue should
contain some substantive articles, hopefully written by several of you.
 I have included a possible list of topics below. 
Papers must be ready by March 15, 1979.
Please think seriously
about my request; I feel it is very important to influence the
personal computer individuals away from their current rush 
towards "traditional" languages. 


Mathematical logic and LISP; LISP vs. APL; applications of LISP by a 
"theoretician"

LISP implementations for micros and minis.

LISP architecture

Killing the LISP "myths"; e.g. special purpose, inefficient, etc.

LISP applications of all kinds.

Interactive Development systems in LISP.

Languages for AI.

LISP future.
\.

\C\F2 The LISP Conference\F1

\JI would like to arrange a LISP conference
for sometime in 1980, probably in the Palo Alto area. 
Besides having a 
unifying effect within the LISP community, the 
conference proceedings would be a 
consolidated source of information for the broader computer community.

Considering the scope of LISP-related topics, we should begin to 
organize now. Therefore I am enclosing a zero-order list of topics for your
comments. Please comment on their appropriateness; please suggest other
topics; and please volunteer to help!

Possible Topic areas include:

\F2LISP Machines:\F1 Several full-scale efforts are underway for LISP-like
architectures; several micro-computer implementations are extant
or planned. It would be nice to have as many of these projects represented
as possible.

	   
\F2Education and Philosophy:\F1 This is a general, but
very important "lump area". LISP is an excellent vehicle on which to hang
most of modern computer science. 


\F2Theory:\F1 Several research projects deal with the provability of programs
expressed in LISP-like formalisms; many of these embody their results in
running systems. Work on semantics is also of interest.

	
\F2Applications:\F1 No language can claim a richer and more varied set of applications
than LISP. We should stress non-AI applications; LISP's diversity should be
made more widely known. Applications might include algebraic manipulation
systems, theorem provers  and verifiers, and applications in the  "non-technical"
sciences.


\F2Personal Computation:\F1 I am convinced that one of  LISP's best customers
will be the personal computer population. LISP's interaction, its range of
applications, and its portability, are all superior to the features currently
being attributed to Pascal.
The special 
LISP issue of BYTE
should  spawn many interesting  projects.


\F2Future, and Extensions, of LISP:\F1 John Backus' Turing lecture
has spawned much interest in applicative languages.
Several current research efforts deal with purified LISP-like 
languages. Within the AI community LISP has become a systems language
both in the sense of an implementation vehicle for AI languages as well as
the traditional sense of operating systems implementation.


\F2Other:\F1 The above topics are definitely far from  exclusive. 
Though perhaps we should minimize the AI-like applications to avoid conflicting
with the IJCAI program.

I am
sending this announcement to a   sample of LISP personages;
 your reactions will dictate much of the next step and as such will
greatly influence the success of the endeavor. Therefore please reflect,
and then respond soon.
\.

\←L\→S\←R\-L\/'2;\+L\→L

Yours sincerely,



John R. Allen   (JRA at SU-AI)
18215 Bayview Dr.
Los Gatos, Ca  95030
(408)353-2227
   or
Signetics Corp.
811 E. Arques Ave. Mail Stop 38
Sunnyvale, Ca 94086
(408)739-7700 X3456
\←S\→L

\F1\CJan 13, 1979








Dear LISP person:

\JTime is  running out.  Please  let me  know whether  or  not you  or  your
colleagues are interested  in writing  articles for the  August BYTE  LISP
issue. Though the deadline for papers is  March 15, I have to know  what's
coming long before that.  I don't want to end up with  only
articles on implementations.

By the way, the Dec  3 appeal was not a  mass mailing, on the contrary  it
was almost  a  non-intersecting covering;  so  if you  don't  coerce  your
colleagues into participating, a significant portion of the LISP  community
will  not  be   represented.  Here's   the  list   of  recipients:   Bruce
Anderson (England), Bob Boyer (SRI), Dan Friedman (middle US wasteland),
Eiichi Goto (Japan), Carl Hewitt&Vaughan Pratt (effete eastern US), Patrick
Greussay (France),  Joachim   Laubsch (Germany),  John   McCarthy (Stanford),
Gianfranco Prini (Italy), Erik Sandewall (Sweden), and Peter Deutsch (Xerox).
\.

\←L\→S\←R\-L\/'2;\+L\→L

Yours sincerely,



John R. Allen   (JRA at SU-AI)
18215 Bayview Dr.
Los Gatos, Ca  95030
(408)353-2227
   or
Signetics Corp.
811 E. Arques Ave. Mail Stop 38
Sunnyvale, Ca 94086
(408)739-7700 X3456
\←S\→L

Sept 23,1979

pitch: Many areas of contemporary computer science have their spiritual
roots in the developments surrounding LISP.  The impact of LISP on AI
is well known. The thrust of this conference is the emphasis of
the non-AI contributions of LISP. These areas span  architecture, 
a unique view of programming, and a perception of the importance of 
theory. The call for papers reflects this breadth.


need 
program committee
	jmc


 candidates
	japan
	germany
	italy
	france
	gb
	australia
	sweden

	cal
	 berkeley
	 stanford
	 xerox smalltalk
	 sri
	 isi
	utah
	indiana
	maryland
	mass
	 mit  lm, mdl
	 bbn
	 Harv ecl, ada

	new york
	 syracuse
	pen
	 cmu

areas for papers
	architecture
	 mit
	 japan
	 xerox

	applicative languages
	 functional languages
	 object-oriented languages


	prog environments
	 lisp machine
	 warren

	applications (non-ai)
	 education
	 non-standard

	panel
	 what is lisp

	random
	 pop-2
	 personal computing?
	  machines
	  projects

	 
date

locations

dialects
maclisp
lisp machine lisp
1
1.5
1.6
ucilisp
1.75
pdp-1
interlisp
bbn lisp
h-lisp
byte lisp
standard lisp
vlisp
cilisp
magma-lisp
370 lisp
nil
franz lisp
harvard lisp
wisconsin lisp
maryland lisp
\\M1BASL30;\M2BASB30;\M3NGR25;\M4NGR20;
\F1\COctober 3, 1979



\J
Early this year I proposed that an International LISP Conference
would be a useful and important event.
I am currently forming a Program Committee; John McCarthy
and Carl Hewitt
have agreed to  serve on the  committee and I am 
pursuing   other participants of their caliber.

I would  be most honored
if you would consent join that panel.

I am enclosing a preliminary  description of the conference.
The days of August 24 through 27 of 1980 are particularly attractive
since Stanford will be hosting an AI conference the preceding week.
Though the thrust of the LISP Conference is the non-AI contribution
of LISP to Computer Science, it would be beneficial to attract the
participants of that conference. The Stanford Conference 
Office expects to be able
to supply us facilities for those dates; if not, comparable
facilities are available  at the University of Santa Clara.

I hope you will accept this offer. I look forward to your response.
\.
\←L\→S\←R\-L\/'2;\+L\→L

Yours sincerely,





John R. Allen

Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab
Computer Science Department
Stanford University
Stanford, Cal 94305

18215 Bayview Dr.
Los Gatos Ca, 95030
(408) 353-3857

	
\←S\→L