Sicp 1.1 exercises

1.3.ss

(define (doit a b c)  
  (define descending (sort (list a b c) >))
  (+ (square (car descending))  (square (car (cdr descending))))
)

My attempt using only material already introduced.

(define (square a) (* a a))

(define (sum-of-squares a b) (+ (square a) (square b)))

(define (smallest? x a b) (and (< x a) (< x b)))

(define (f a b c)
  (cond ((smallest? a b c) (sum-of-squares b c))
        ((smallest? b a c) (sum-of-squares a c))
        (else (sum-of-squares a b))
        ))

My attempt https://gist.github.com/jimmyp/5538332

smallest? is much more elegant than my solution

liam where is car and cdr coming from in your solution?