Logic, Induction and Sets (London Mathematical Society Student Texts) [Hardcover]

Thomas Forster (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521826217 | ISBN-13: 978-0521826211 | Publication Date: July 21, 2003

Philosophical considerations, which are often ignored or treated casually, are given careful consideration in this introduction. Thomas Forster places the notion of inductively defined sets (recursive datatypes) at the center of his exposition resulting in an original analysis of well established topics. The presentation illustrates difficult points and includes many exercises. Little previous knowledge of logic is required and only a knowledge of standard undergraduate mathematics is assumed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a remarkable book, presenting an introduction to mathematical logic and axiomatic set theory from a unified standpoint. ...highly recommended..." MathSciNet

Book Description

This is an introduction to logic and the axiomatization of set theory from a unique standpoint. Philosophical considerations, which are often ignored or treated casually, are here given careful consideration, and furthermore the author places the notion of inductively defined sets (recursive datatypes) at the center of his exposition resulting in a treatment of well established topics that is fresh and insightful. The presentation is engaging, but always great care is taken to illustrate difficult points. Understanding is also aided by the inclusion of many exercises. Little previous knowledge of logic is required of the reader, and only a background of standard undergraduate mathematics is assumed.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 244 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (July 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521826217
• ISBN-13: 978-0521826211
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 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: #1,705,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual reliance on text rather than equations, October 26, 2003

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Logic, Induction and Sets (London Mathematical Society Student Texts) (Paperback)

As a regular reviewer who reads the books he reviews, I am beginning to find a routine sameness to many of the books I examine. This holds for introductory logic, some areas of which have not changed for thousands of years. In many cases, it has become so routine that it is very hard to read the books, and to solve this problem I have adopted the solution that I read approximately ten pages at a time. Most books covering this material are a sequential listing and proving of the fundamental theorems. Correct, but hardly a point of differentiation between books.
Fortunately, I found this book to be different. The author uses more explanatory text and fewer equations than most others do. While that alone does not make it better, the quality of the exposition does. There was more enthusiasm generated when reading this book than I have had in a long time when reading an introductory mathematics book. There was no reason to adopt the ten page rule. Despite the relative lack of equations, all of the basics are covered in sufficient detail. One hundred and thirty eight exercises are interspersed within the text and solutions to approximately one fourth of the exercises are included.
A book that can be used as a textbook or for self-study, it manages to be different enough to read easily, but not so different that it is difficult to learn from.