Lectures on Boolean Algebras [Paperback]

Paul R. Halmos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1974 | ISBN-10: 0387900942 | ISBN-13: 978-0387900940 | Edition: 1st ed. 1968. 2nd printing

This book is an informal, although systematic presentation of lectures given by the authors on Boolean algebras, intended for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. In a bold and refreshing style, this book treats Boolean algebras, develops some intriguing ideas, and provides rare insights. Exercises are generously sprinkled throughout the text for course study. This book can be considered a sequel to Paul Halmos's Lectures on Boolean Algebras, with the following changes: (1) the material in every section has been explained in more detail, and is now more accessible to undergraduates; (2) there are three times as many exercises, and the authors have now prepared a solutions manual; (3) a more careful explanation of the relationship between Boolean rings and Boolean algebras has been added; (4) thirteen chapters have been added, including chapters on topology and on continuous functions, a chapter on the extension theorem for homomorphisms, a new chapter on congruences and quotient algebras, a chapter on the lattice of ideals, and a chapter on duality theory for products.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: “This is an excellent and much-needed comprehensive undergraduate textbook on Boolean algebras.  It contains a complete and thorough introduction to the fundamental theory of Boolean algebras.  Aimed at undergraduate mathematics students, the book is, in the first author’s words, “a substantially revised version of Paul Halmos’ “Lectures on Boolean Algebras.”  It certainly achieves its stated goal of “steering a middle course between the elementary arithmetic aspects of the subject” and “the deeper mathematical aspects of the theory” of Boolean algebras.” … “The book is written for undergraduate students who already have skills in proving theorems.  However, since the proofs are so detailed and clear, it could work well as a text for a second or even first course involving substantial proofs.  For this reason, it would also make a great book for a student doing independent study.  The text is somewhat informal in the sense that sometimes proofs appear in the prose rather than under the heading, “Proof”, but it is always clear when this is being done.    Though the book starts with an introduction to Boolean rings, knowledge of group theory or rings is not a prerequisite for using the book.” …  “In summary, “Introduction to Boolean algebras” is a gem of a text which fills a long-standing gap in the undergraduate literature.  It combines the best of both worlds by rigorously covering all the fundamental theorems and topics of Boolean algebra while at the same time being easy to read, detailed, and well-paced for undergraduate students.  It is my most highly recommended text for undergraduates studying Boolean algebras.” (Natasha Dobrinen. The Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, Vol. 16 (2), June 2010: 281-282) "Introduction to Boolean Algebras … is intended for advanced undergraduates. Givant (Mills College) and Halmos … using clear and precise prose, build the abstract theory of Boolean rings and algebras from scratch. … the necessary topological material is developed within the book and an appendix on set theory is included. … Includes an extensive bibliography and more than 800 exercises at all levels of difficulty. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, and faculty." (S. J. Colley, Choice, Vol. 46 (10), June 2009) “The authors have written a book for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. … The authors start with the definition of Boolean rings and Boolean algebras, give examples and basic facts and compare both notions. … There are a large number of exercises of varying level of difficulty. Hints for the solutions of the harder problems are given in an appendix. A detailed solutions manual for all exercises is available for instructors. The book can serve as a basis for a variety of courses.” (Martin Weese, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1168, 2009) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

In a bold and refreshingly informal style, this exciting text steers a middle course between elementary texts emphasizing connections with philosophy, logic, and electronic circuit design, and profound treatises aimed at advanced graduate students and professional mathematicians. It is written for readers who have studied at least two years of college-level mathematics. With carefully crafted prose, lucid explanations, and illuminating insights, it guides students to some of the deeper results of Boolean algebra --- and in particular to the important interconnections with topology --- without assuming a background in algebra, topology, and set theory. The parts of those subjects that are needed to understand the material are developed within the text itself.   Highlights of the book include the normal form theorem; the homomorphism extension theorem; the isomorphism theorem for countable atomless Boolean algebras; the maximal ideal theorem; the celebrated Stone representation theorem; the existence and uniqueness theorems for canonical extensions and completions; Tarski’s isomorphism of factors theorem for countably complete Boolean algebras, and Hanf’s related counterexamples; and an extensive treatment of the algebraic-topological duality, including the duality between ideals and open sets, homomorphisms and continuous functions, subalgebras and quotient spaces, and direct products and Stone-Cech compactifications.   A special feature of the book is the large number of exercises of varying levels of difficulty, from routine problems that help readers understand the basic definitions and theorems, to intermediate problems that extend or enrich material developed in the text, to harder problems that explore important ideas either not treated in the text, or that go substantially beyond its treatment. Hints for the solutions to the harder problems are given in an appendix. A detailed solutions manual for all exercises is available for instructors who adopt the text for a course. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 147 pages
• Publisher: Springer-Verlag; 1st ed. 1968. 2nd printing edition (January 1, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387900942
• ISBN-13: 978-0387900940
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,506,203 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb introduction. (Contains one flaw.), January 3, 2003

By 

Michael Hardy (Minneapolis, MN, USA, for the Time Being) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lectures on Boolean Algebras (Paperback)

As always, Halmos is an excellent expositor. The brief first chapter has been known to scare away physicists and other intelligent people who don't happen to know ring theory, but fortunately the first chapter can be skipped. The book is at the right level to be used by mathematics graduate students learning Boolean algebras and Stone spaces for the first time.

Some people draw a sharp distinction between the concepts of "Boolean space" (a totally disconnected compact Hausdorff space) and "Stone space", the difference being that a Stone space is the Stone space _of_ a Boolean algebra. A Boolean algebra's Stone space is the space of all of its 2-valued homomorphisms with the topology of pointwise convergence of nets of such homomorphisms. That every Boolean space is the Stone space of some Boolean algebra (namely, the Boolean algebra of all of its clopen subsets) is one of the important facts of "Stone's duality". Halmos never mentions the phrase "Stone space", but he proves the basic facts about "Stone's duality": that the category of Boolean algebras and Boolean homomorphisms is the opposite of the category of Boolean spaces and continuous functions.

The flaw is in Lecture 21. Much of that section is founded upon an error -- that a Boolean algebra may have various non-isomorphic completions, of which one is "minimal". A careful mathematician can reconstruct that lecture and get much that is of value, but some may be unfortunately misled.

One other thing irritates me: Halmos uses the word "non-atomic" rather than the much better term "atomless". The problem with "non-atomic" is that it may be mistaken for "not atomic", and that is a quite different thing.

This book is now out of print. I'd like to see Dover reprint it.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE BEST, December 1, 2001

By 

Avigail (Jerusalem Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lectures on Boolean Algebras (Paperback)

A very good book, going through the stuff in a very nice kind. Giving you intuitive insights, easy proofs, and written with a large sense of humor.