A Formal Background to Mathematics


Book Description

§1 Faced by the questions mentioned in the Preface I was prompted to write this book on the assumption that a typical reader will have certain characteristics. He will presumably be familiar with conventional accounts of certain portions of mathematics and with many so-called mathematical statements, some of which (the theorems) he will know (either because he has himself studied and digested a proof or because he accepts the authority of others) to be true, and others of which he will know (by the same token) to be false. He will nevertheless be conscious of and perturbed by a lack of clarity in his own mind concerning the concepts of proof and truth in mathematics, though he will almost certainly feel that in mathematics these concepts have special meanings broadly similar in outward features to, yet different from, those in everyday life; and also that they are based on criteria different from the experimental ones used in science. He will be aware of statements which are as yet not known to be either true or false (unsolved problems). Quite possibly he will be surprised and dismayed by the possibility that there are statements which are "definite" (in the sense of involving no free variables) and which nevertheless can never (strictly on the basis of an agreed collection of axioms and an agreed concept of proof) be either proved or disproved (refuted).




A Formal Background to Mathematics 2a


Book Description




Mathematics and Logic


Book Description

Fascinating study of the origin and nature of mathematical thought, including relation of mathematics and science, 20th-century developments, impact of computers, and more.Includes 34 illustrations. 1968 edition."




An Introduction to Mathematical Logic


Book Description

This comprehensive overview ofmathematical logic is designedprimarily for advanced undergraduatesand graduate studentsof mathematics. The treatmentalso contains much of interest toadvanced students in computerscience and philosophy. Topics include propositional logic;first-order languages and logic; incompleteness, undecidability,and indefinability; recursive functions; computability;and Hilbert’s Tenth Problem.Reprint of the PWS Publishing Company, Boston, 1995edition.




Logic in Elementary Mathematics


Book Description

"This accessible, applications-related introductory treatment explores some of the structure of modern symbolic logic useful in the exposition of elementary mathematics. Topics include axiomatic structure and the relation of theory to interpretation. No prior training in logic is necessary, and numerous examples and exercises aid in the mastery of the language of logic. 1959 edition"--




Introduction to Logic


Book Description

Part I of this coherent, well-organized text deals with formal principles of inference and definition. Part II explores elementary intuitive set theory, with separate chapters on sets, relations, and functions. Ideal for undergraduates.




Physics for Mathematicians


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A Survey of Industrial Mathematics


Book Description

Students learn how to solve problems they'll encounter in their professional lives with this concise single-volume treatment. It employs MATLAB and other strategies to explore typical industrial problems. 2000 edition.




Set Theory and Logic


Book Description

Explores sets and relations, the natural number sequence and its generalization, extension of natural numbers to real numbers, logic, informal axiomatic mathematics, Boolean algebras, informal axiomatic set theory, several algebraic theories, and 1st-order theories.




Introduction to Mathematical Logic


Book Description

This is a compact mtroduction to some of the pnncipal tOpICS of mathematical logic . In the belief that beginners should be exposed to the most natural and easiest proofs, I have used free-swinging set-theoretic methods. The significance of a demand for constructive proofs can be evaluated only after a certain amount of experience with mathematical logic has been obtained. If we are to be expelled from "Cantor's paradise" (as nonconstructive set theory was called by Hilbert), at least we should know what we are missing. The major changes in this new edition are the following. (1) In Chapter 5, Effective Computability, Turing-computabIlity IS now the central notion, and diagrams (flow-charts) are used to construct Turing machines. There are also treatments of Markov algorithms, Herbrand-Godel-computability, register machines, and random access machines. Recursion theory is gone into a little more deeply, including the s-m-n theorem, the recursion theorem, and Rice's Theorem. (2) The proofs of the Incompleteness Theorems are now based upon the Diagonalization Lemma. Lob's Theorem and its connection with Godel's Second Theorem are also studied. (3) In Chapter 2, Quantification Theory, Henkin's proof of the completeness theorem has been postponed until the reader has gained more experience in proof techniques. The exposition of the proof itself has been improved by breaking it down into smaller pieces and using the notion of a scapegoat theory. There is also an entirely new section on semantic trees.