John Barkley Rosser Sr. (December 6, 1907 – September 5, 1989) was an American logician, a student of Alonzo Church, and known for his part in the Church–Rosser theorem in lambda calculus. He also developed what is now called the "Rosser sieve" in number theory. He was part of the mathematics department at Cornell University from 1936 to 1963, chairing it several times.

Rosser's son, John Barkley Rosser Jr. (1948–2023), was a mathematical economist and professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Selected publications

  • 1934: A mathematical logic without variables, Univ. Diss. Princeton, NJ, p. 127–150, 328–355
  • 1953: Logic for mathematicians, McGraw-Hill 2nd edition, Chelsea Publ. Co. 1978, 578 p.,
  • 1969: Simplified Independence Proofs: Boolean Valued Models of Set Theory, Academic Press
  • 1984: "Highlights of the History of Lambda calculus", Annals of the History of Computing 6(4): 337–349
  • See Barkley Rosser papers at University of Texas

References

  • Interview with Rosser and Stephen Kleene about their experiences at Princeton