It doesn't fully explain it, but drops some hints:
"The other main advantage of the algebraic notation for list structure processing was first noticed by Gelernter."
That's one of the authors of the Fortran-compiled List-processing Language (FLPL) in which thef unctions XCARF and XCDRF were introduced.
MacCarthy drops a hint that he actually had something to do with Gelernter's work and his choices:
"Algebraic notation for list processing is not used by
Net'Jell, Simon and Shaw, pelhaps beaause to do so is most
convenient when a compiler is available, but is used by
Gelernter in the geometry program. This was accomplished
(on the advice of the present author) by using the Fortran
compiler together with a set of machine language coded
functions for handling the primitive list processes that
go from one element of a list to the next"
Comments
It doesn't fully explain it, but drops some hints:
"The other main advantage of the algebraic notation for list structure processing was first noticed by Gelernter."
That's one of the authors of the Fortran-compiled List-processing Language (FLPL) in which thef unctions XCARF and XCDRF were introduced.
MacCarthy drops a hint that he actually had something to do with Gelernter's work and his choices:
"Algebraic notation for list processing is not used by Net'Jell, Simon and Shaw, pelhaps beaause to do so is most convenient when a compiler is available, but is used by Gelernter in the geometry program. This was accomplished (on the advice of the present author) by using the Fortran compiler together with a set of machine language coded functions for handling the primitive list processes that go from one element of a list to the next"