Haskell Curry facts for kids

Haskell Brooks Curry (born September 12, 1900 – died September 1, 1982) was an American mathematician and logician. He is famous for his work in a field called combinatory logic. This area of study helps us understand how mathematical functions work.

Curry also has important ideas named after him, like Curry's paradox and the Curry–Howard correspondence. Three programming languages are named after him: Haskell, Brook, and Curry. Also, a method called currying in mathematics and computer science is named in his honor. It's a way to change how functions are used.

His Life Story

Haskell Curry was born on September 12, 1900, in Millis, Massachusetts. His parents, Samuel Silas Curry and Anna Baright Curry, ran a school.

In 1916, he started studying medicine at Harvard University. But he soon changed his mind and decided to study mathematics instead. He graduated from Harvard in 1920.

After college, he spent two years studying electrical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Then, he went back to Harvard to study physics. He earned a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in 1924.

During this time, Curry became very interested in mathematical logic. He learned about a big project called Principia Mathematica. This project tried to build all of mathematics using symbolic logic.

Curry stayed at Harvard to work on his Ph.D. in mathematics. Even though his advisor suggested he work on differential equations, Curry's interest kept moving towards logic.

In 1927, while teaching at Princeton University, he found the work of Moses Schönfinkel. Schönfinkel had already explored many ideas that Curry was working on in combinatory logic. Because of this, Curry moved to the University of Göttingen in Germany. There, he could work with other mathematicians who knew Schönfinkel's work.

David Hilbert was Curry's supervisor, and he worked closely with Paul Bernays. Curry earned his Ph.D. in 1930. His main research was on combinatory logic.

In 1928, before going to Germany, Curry married Mary Virginia Wheatley. They lived in Germany while he finished his studies. In 1929, they moved to State College, Pennsylvania. Curry started working at Pennsylvania State College.

They had two children: Anne Wright Curry (born 1930) and Robert Wheatley Curry (born 1934). Curry taught at Penn State for 37 years.

During World War II, he took time off to help the United States government. He worked on applied mathematics projects. After the war, in 1945 and 1946, he worked on the ENIAC project. This was one of the very first electronic computers.

Later, he worked with Robert Feys in Belgium. After retiring from Penn State in 1966, Curry took a job at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In 1970, he retired from Amsterdam and returned to Pennsylvania.

Haskell Curry passed away on September 1, 1982, in State College, Pennsylvania.

His Important Work

Haskell Curry spent his whole career trying to show that combinatory logic could be a strong base for all of mathematics. He is considered the founder and a very important person in this field.

Combinatory logic is a key idea behind a type of computer programming called functional programming. This kind of programming focuses on using functions.

In 1947, Curry also described one of the first high-level programming languages. He also explained how to turn a math expression into code for a computer.

He taught at Harvard and Princeton. From 1929 to 1966, he taught at Pennsylvania State University. In 1942, he published his ideas on Curry's paradox. In 1966, he became a professor at the University of Amsterdam.

Curry also taught and wrote about mathematical logic in general. His book, Foundations of Mathematical Logic, came out in 1963. He believed in a philosophy of mathematics called formalism. This idea suggests that mathematics is about symbols and rules, much like a game.

See also

In Spanish: Haskell Curry para niños