Armstrong&#x27;s paper about the history of Erlang is fantastic.<p>It explains how Erlang was developed through a process of trial and error, initially in Prolog and then inheriting a Prolog-like syntax when it became its own thing. Worth reading, lots of trivia about the thought processes behind his and Virding&#x27;s back-and-forths at the time; and Armstrong is characteristically modest about how they had to invent their way toward a solution, because none existed at the time.<p>I believe this is the one: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cobweb.cs.uga.edu&#x2F;~maria&#x2F;classes&#x2F;4500-Spring-2010&#x2F;papers&#x2F;ErlangHistory.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;cobweb.cs.uga.edu&#x2F;~maria&#x2F;classes&#x2F;4500-Spring-2010&#x2F;pap...</a><p>Edit: It also touches on why Erlang&#x27;s syntax looks the way it does. They initially for a Prologue syntax, and evolved it from there.