George Boole - Selected Manuscripts on Logic and its Philosophy (Science Networks. Historical Studies) [Hardcover]

Ivor Grattan-Guinness (Editor), Gerard Bornet (Editor), George Boole (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3764354569 | ISBN-13: 978-3764354565 | Publication Date: May 29, 1997 | Edition: 1

George Boole (1815-1864) is well known to mathematicians for his research and textbooks on the calculus, but his name has spread world-wide for his innovations in symbolic logic and the development and applications made since his day. The utility of "Boolean algebra" in computing has greatly increased curiosity in the nature and extent of his achievements. His work is most accessible in his two books on logic, "A mathematical analysis of logic" (1947) and "An investigation of the laws of thought" (1954). But at various times he wrote manuscript essays, especially after the publication of the second book; several were intended for a non-technical work, "The Philosophy of logic", which he was not able to complete. This volume contains an edited selection which not only relates them to Boole's publications and the historical context of his time, but also describes their strange history of family, followers and scholars have treid to confect an edition. The book will appeal to logicians, mathematicians and philosophers, and those interested in the histories of the corresponding subjects; and also students of the early Victorian Britain in which they were written.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 305 pages
• Publisher: Birkhäuser Basel; 1 edition (May 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3764354569
• ISBN-13: 978-3764354565
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,930,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a frustrating read, October 19, 2006

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W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: George Boole - Selected Manuscripts on Logic and its Philosophy (Science Networks. Historical Studies) (Hardcover)

While Boole is considered one of the founders of computing, few people have actually read his papers. This book offers a chance to remedy that omission. It gives a sampling of papers that show Boole's thinking, and how this changed over his lifetime. The papers also somewhat indirectly reflect how logic was perceived by other mathematicians in Victorian Britain.

The book can be a trifle frustrating. Boole and others of his time had no hardware or software in which to apply their logic. Which is a tribute to how much he was able to accomplish, through pure deductive reasoning. But one cannot help wondering how much further he would have been able to pursue his research, if he had access to even simple functioning computers. Very analogous to Babbage and Lovelace. In contrast to Claude Shannon, who was able to see his research instantiated in hardware and software during his lifetime.