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Correspondence re Kleene's "Origins of recursive function theory" and Davis's "Why Gödel didn't have Church's thesis

Correspondence re Kleene's "Origins of recursive function theory" and Davis's "Why Gödel didn't have Church's thesis by Kleene, Stephen C.; Martin Davis

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Seller: Jeremy Norman & Co., Inc.
Title
Correspondence re Kleene's "Origins of recursive function theory" and Davis's "Why Gödel didn't have Church's thesis
Author
Kleene, Stephen C.; Martin Davis
Seller
Jeremy Norman & Co., Inc. (United States)
Description
1981. Kleene, Stephen C. (1909-94); Martin Davis (1928-2023). (1) Group of 16 letters, including 8 typed letters signed and two autograph letters signed, pertaining to Kleene's 1981 paper, "Origins of recursive function theory," and Davis's 1982 paper, "Why Gödel didn't have Church's thesis"; see calendar of letters below. 26 sheets total. October 1981 - 19 February 1982. Very good. (2) Kleene. Origins of recursive function theory. Offprint from Annals of the History of Computing 3 (1981). 52-67pp. 282 x 213 mm. Original plain wrappers. Very good. With 4 corrections in Kleene's hand. "Kleene, along with Rózsa Peter, Alan Turing, Emil Post and others, is best known as a founder of the branch of mathematical logic known as recursion theory, which subsequently helped to provide the foundations of theoretical computer science. Kleene's work grounds the study of computable functions. A number of mathematical concepts are named after him: Kleene hierarchy, Kleene algebra, the Kleene star (Kleene closure), Kleene's recursion theorem and the Kleene fixed-point theorem. He also invented regular expressions in 1951 to describe McCulloch-Pitts neural networks, and made significant contributions to the foundations of mathematical intuitionism" (Wikipedia article on Kleene). We are offering a collection of correspondence between Kleene and Martin Davis, a mathematician and logician who made important contributions to computability theory. Davis's work on Hilbert's tenth problem-asking for a general algorithm to decide the solvability of Diophantine equations-led to the Matiyasevich-Robinson-Davis-Putman (MRDP) theorem implying that a solution to this problem is impossible. Both Kleene and Davis had studied under Alonzo Church at Princeton, Kleene in the 1930s and Davis in the 1940s. The correspondence offered here, consisting of 16 letters (see the calendar below), centers on Davis's paper, "Why Gödel didn't have Church's thesis" (Information and Control 54 [1982]: 3-24), which had been inspired by Kleene's 1979 lecture on "Origins of recursive function theory" given in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1979 at the 20th annual IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science. In his letter of 11/14/79 (letter 1), Kleene proposed an addition to the published version of his lecture (Annals of the History of Computing 3 [1981]: 52-67), based on a suggestion by Davis: "What would you think of adding the following to the second full paragraph of the of the right column of page 378: In a conversation at San Juan on October 31, 1979, Davis . . . expressed to me the opinion that my proof of the equivalence of my definition of general recursiveness to Gödel's (which Gödel called 'not quite trivial'), and my normal form theorem, were considerations which combined with Turing's arguments to convince Gödel of the Church-Turing thesis . . ." Sometime in 1981 Davis sent Kleene a preliminary version of "Why Gödel didn't have Church's thesis"-a paper "directly stimulated by your San Juan lecture"-which outlined the development of -definability and recursive function theory by Gödel, Church, Turing, Kleene, Post and others in the 1930s. Davis asked for Kleene's comments and corrections to the paper (letter 2); Kleene ended up sending Davis two long letters (letters 4 and 9) with extensive criticisms and additions, clarifying the chronology and priority of discovery, and adding important historical detail, particularly with regard to Church and Gödel. An example: "Just how far back Church's expressed speculations [re -definability] went I don't definitely recall. But his definite proposal was after his speaking out on the significance of -definability as a number-theoretic notion in the fall of 1933 . . . Then one day in his office in Fine Hall he made the definite proposal. This had to be after December 1933 since I was away from Princeton from early September 1933 till sometime in January or February 1934 . . . And Church, who is very careful, in his letter of November 29, 1935 (copy enclosed), written when his memory of the period should have been reasonably fresh, puts '[his] proposal that lambda-definability be taken as a definition of [effective calculability] ahead of Gödel's introduction of general recursiveness' (letter 4, 10/22/81). Kleene's letter enclosed a photocopy of Church's 1935 letter (letter 6), in which Church described his and Kleene's development of -definability ("The notion of lambda-definability in its present form is, of course, the result of a gradual development . . . we seem to be agreed that the statement that the notion of lambda-definability is jointly due to you and me is fair . . .") and gave a brief history of "Gödel and the notions of recursiveness and effective calculability." In his letter of 11/16/81 (letter 9) Kleene supplied further information about Gödel's role vis-à-vis lambda-calculus and recursiveness theory, particularly his failure to credit Church's and Kleene's work: "Now, I hate to say it. But I must acknowledge feeling that Gödel was somewhat less than generous in acknowledging (except only, so far as I know, for the footnote on your p. 72) a role of Church or me in three matters. "In the spring term of 1934, Church had pushed -definability at a reluctant Gödel . . . Was it hard for Gödel to admit that Church had in fact been right (though not a persuasive as Turing later was), given Gödel's acceptance of Turing's equivalent? "As my second illustration of Gödel's reluctance to give credit, Gödel has never to my knowledge taken any public notice of my having a role in generalizing his (first) incompleteness theorem . . . "A third-rather trifling-illustration is the notion of 'partial recursive function.' I remember so vividly the words of Gödel on an occasion in Princeton in 1939-40 . . . when in a conversation with him I mentioned 'partial recursive functions' (terminology which, as you well know, I introduced in the J.S.L. in 1938). His exact words were, I swear, 'What is a partial recursive function?' . . . "(letter 9). In this letter Kleene also stated that he would send Davis an offprint of "Origins of recursive function theory" in which "I am writing in four corrections" on pp. 52, 57, 59 and 60; this corrected offprint is included in the present collection. Davis gratefully incorporated Kleene's observations into the later drafts of his paper (letters 8 and 11), and Kleene responded with further minor corrections (letters 12, 13, 15 and 16). .
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ENTERTAINING, MORAL AND RELIGIOUS REPOSITORY; Containing, Upwards

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$1,500.00
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Seller: Joseph J. Felcone Inc.
Title
ENTERTAINING, MORAL AND RELIGIOUS REPOSITORY; Containing, Upwards
Seller
Joseph J. Felcone Inc. (United States)
Description
1800. THE ENTERTAINING, MORAL AND RELIGIOUS REPOSITORY; Containing, Upwards of Three Score Separate Performances, all of which are Written in a Simple yet Pleasing Stile, and are Eminently Calculated for the Amusement and Instruction of the Youth of Both Sexes. Elizabeth-Town: Shepard Kollock, for C. Davis, New York, 1800. [2], 324 p. Contemporary undecorated sheep-backed marbled paper-covered boards (rubbed, corners worn). Usual light foxing. An unusually clean and tight copy. With an 1804 ownership signature of Jane Sears. A reissue of the second volume of Kollock's 1798 edition, with a new title leaf. Felcone, Printing in New Jersey, 1754-1800, 1088; Evans 37374; Welch 361.7; ESTC W31910.
Das Gemälde des Kebes. Aus einer alten griechischen Handschrifft

Das Gemälde des Kebes. Aus einer alten griechischen Handschrifft by CEBES, of Thebes

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Seller: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc.
Title
Das Gemälde des Kebes. Aus einer alten griechischen Handschrifft
Author
CEBES, of Thebes
Seller
Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (United States)
Description
Engraved vignette on title & one large folding engraved plate (a little frayed at inner margin). xxxx, 78 pp. 8vo, cont. half-sheep & speckled boards (two corners a little worn, a little worming to covers), spine gilt. Moscow: “bey der Typographischen Gesellschafft,” 1785. First edition of this translation, printed in Moscow, and edited anonymously. Cebes of Thebes (ca. 430-350 B.C.E.) was a member of Socrates’ inner circle. One of the speakers in the Phaedo of Plato, he was represented as an earnest seeker after virtue and truth, keen in argument and cautious in decision. One of the dialogues that has been attributed to him is the Pinax or Tabula, also known as the Tablet of Cebes. In fact, it was probably Hellenistic, from the second or at the earliest, the first century. The Tabula was well known in antiquity, and after the first modern publication in the late fifteenth century, popular in Europe through the eighteenth century. The large and remarkable folding plate depicts all aspects of humanity, from sinners at the bottom to saints at the top. The charming engraved vignette on the title depicts Samson slaying a lion. Very good copy. ❧ Brunet, I, 1711–(erroneously giving the date as 1786). Hoffmann, I, 484.
South Pacific. A Musical Play

South Pacific. A Musical Play by MARTIN, Mary; RODGERS, Richard HAMMERSTEIN, Oscar

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$350.00
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Seller: David Brass Rare Books, Inc.
Title
South Pacific. A Musical Play
Author
MARTIN, Mary; RODGERS, Richard HAMMERSTEIN, Oscar
Seller
David Brass Rare Books, Inc. (United States)
Description
New York: Random House , 1949. With an Inscribed Photograph of Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush [MARTIN, Mary]. RODGERS, Richard. HAMMERSTEIN, Oscar. South Pacific. A Musical Play. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, 2nd, and Joshua Logan. Adapted from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-Winning Tales of the South Pacific. New York: Random House, [1949]. First edition, first printing, second state (without Logan credit on copyright page). With an Inscribed Photograph of Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush pasted to front free endpaper. Small octavo (8 x 5 3/8 inches; 203 x 137 mm.). [xii], [1]-170 pp. Photogravure frontispiece and two photogravure plates. Publisher's light gray cloth, front cover with palm tree in green and brown, spine blocked in brown and green and lettered in white. A fine copy in the original pictorial dust jacket, spine slightly faded. With a fine 7 x 5 1/8 inch black and white photograph pasted to the front free endpaper inscribed "To Paul / With best / wishes / Mary Martin. South Pacific is a musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The work premiered in 1949 on Broadway and was an immediate hit, running for 1,925 performances. The plot is based on James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific and combines elements of several of those stories. Rodgers and Hammerstein believed they could write a musical based on Michener's work that would be financially successful and, at the same time, send a strong progressive message on racism. The original Broadway production enjoyed immense critical and box-office success, became the second-longest running Broadway musical to that point (behind Rodgers and Hammerstein's earlier Oklahoma! (1943)), and has remained popular ever since. After they signed Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin as the leads, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote several of the songs with the particular talents of their stars in mind. The piece won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. Especially in the Southern U.S., its racial theme provoked controversy, for which its authors were unapologetic. Several of its songs, including "Bali Ha'i", "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair", "Some Enchanted Evening", "There Is Nothing Like a Dame", "Happy Talk", "Younger Than Springtime", and "I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy", have become popular standards. Mary Virginia Martin (1913 -1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific (1949), the title character in Peter Pan (1954), and Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1959). She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989. She was the mother of actor Larry Hagman.
ONE DAY MORE. A Play in One Act

ONE DAY MORE. A Play in One Act by Conrad, Joseph

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$125.00
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Seller: Charles Parkhurst Rare Books, Inc.
Title
ONE DAY MORE. A Play in One Act
Author
Conrad, Joseph
Seller
Charles Parkhurst Rare Books, Inc. (United States)
Condition
Near Fine
Description
London: Beaumont Press, 1919. Hard Cover. Near Fine. Tall Octavo. Limited Edition of 250 copies. This is no. 223. Sixth book issued by the Beaumont Press. Cover design by Michel Sevier. A near fine copy bound in tan cloth spine and yellow and blue patterned paper boards, printed paper spine label. Mild cover edge wear. 48 pp.
Deutsche Literature Barockzeit: Klassik und Romantik

Deutsche Literature Barockzeit: Klassik und Romantik by Hauswedell, Ernst

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$22.00
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Seller: Michael Laird Rare Books LLC
Title
Deutsche Literature Barockzeit: Klassik und Romantik
Author
Hauswedell, Ernst
Seller
Michael Laird Rare Books LLC (United States)
Condition
Good
Description
Hamburg: Dr. Ernst Hauswedell, 1967. Softcover. Good. Octavo, 79 pages, some markings on cover. Illustrated in black and white. ¶ Auction of classic and romantic German baroque literature. 600 lots described and illustrated.