The Nuts and Bolts of Proofs, Third Edition (Paperback)

by Antonella Cupillari (Author)
Key Phrases: palindrome number, real zeroes, two integer numbers, Third Edition, Special Kinds of Theorems, Alleged Proof (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"I really enjoyed the "Collection of Proofs." It is a great addition. These exercises will really stretch a student's imagination, and go a long way to impressing on them the standards for a believable proof and the necessity of understanding a proposition before embarking on its proof (or the search for a counter-example).
It should be clear that I find NBP an indispensable adjunct to my linear algebra course and to my efforts to increase my students' mathematical maturity. The new material only makes a great book even greater." Robert Beezer, University of Puget Sound.

Book Description
This simple, updated guidebook shows how to read, understand and construct proofs

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 3 edition (June 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0120885093
• ISBN-13: 978-0120885091
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,635 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #2 in	Books > Science > Mathematics > Pure Mathematics > Set Theory
  #3 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Mathematics > Pure Mathematics > Set Theory
  #17 in	Books > Science > Mathematics > Logic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I own a previous edition, March 7, 2006

By	Nicole Henry "nicole henry" (UCLA Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I own the second edition of this book and find it incredibly well done. I am a math major, and this book was recommended to me by a caring professor to help aid my transition between computational mathematics and the more abstract area of Mathematical Proofs.

It is a complete and easy to follow introduction to proofs. It quickly goes over the basic properties of numbers and symbols, then goes into direct proofs. It then explains the logic of using the contrapositive instead of using direct proof by showing truth trees of the statements. After that she goes over special types of theorems.

Everything is well documented and there are tons of examples. In her examples Antonella first explains the peculiarities of the proof she is about to attempt, and then she does the proof. That discussion is enlightening and her proofs are easy to follow.

I found going through this book was invaluable to my mathematics career. The level of difficulty of this book is very EASY, so it is perfect for going though on ones own. You will likely have much more difficult proofs in class, but by going through this book will become familiar with the techniques and ideas of Proofs, which is where most students have difficulty!

The book is small and does not feel like a textbook. It has about 80 pages of text and the rest of the book is solutions to exercises. The new edition is larger, but still relatively small, and so hopefully it has this same feel, and if nothing else is light enough to carry around!

When I was going through this book, I would carry it around in my purse with me--that is how small and portable and useful this treasure is.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!!!, April 11, 2006

By	J. Scott (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is like no other. Its short and to the point which means that the busy math major can actually sit down and read it! We all know how hard it is to try and read a wordy book on how to write proofs while at the same time trying to study abstract algebra! We dont need a full 100 pages on informal logic! Antonella Cupillari seems to understand this and sums up everything we need to know concerning logic in under 12 pages! Excellent book! Well worth the $32.95!