Description

The LISP machine was the first hardware implementation of the AI programming language LISP. Researchers had long been frustrated by the constraints of running LISP programs on large mainframes, so they developed LISP machines as stand-alone, single-user, high-performance computers that could run LISP programs faster and more efficiently. The first machines were hand-assembled by Richard Greenblatt and Thomas Knight at the MIT AI Lab in the mid-1970s.

The first machine was called the CONS machine (named after the CONS function in LISP that created lists), and after its initial success, its inventors created a new version, the CADR (named after the LISP function CADR, which retrieved the second item in a list). CADR was a general-purpose, 32-bit microprogrammable processor that became popular both within and outside of MIT.

Additional Information

MIT AI memo detailing CADR: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/5718