Logic For Mathematicians

A Course in Mathematical Logic for Mathematicians, Second Edition offers a straightforward introduction to modern mathematical logic that will appeal to the intuition of working mathematicians. The book begins with an elementary introduction to formal languages and proceeds to a discussion of proof theory. It then presents several highlights of 20th century mathematical logic, including theorems of Gödel and Tarski, and Cohen's theorem on the independence of the continuum hypothesis. A unique feature of the text is a discussion of quantum logic.

Logic is the skill that enables humans to think clearly, accurately, and rigorously and so to draw only the inferences that the evidence warrants. Some people, like scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and computer programmers, get plenty of on-the-job practice in thinking logically. The rest of us generally don’t.

This book provides an introduction to logic and mathematical induction which are the basis of any deductive computational framework. A strong mathematical foundation of the logical engines available in modern proof assistants, such as the PVS verification system, is essential for computer scientists, mathematicians and engineers to increment their capabilities to provide formal proofs of theorems and to certify the robustness of software and hardware systems.

This introduction to mathematical logic starts with propositional calculus and first-order logic. Topics covered include syntax, semantics, soundness, completeness, independence, normal forms, vertical paths through negation normal formulas, compactness, Smullyan's Unifying Principle, natural deduction, cut-elimination, semantic tableaux, Skolemization, Herbrand's Theorem, unification, duality, interpolation, and definability.

One can distinguish, roughly speaking, two different approaches to the philosophy of mathematics. On the one hand, some philosophers (and some mathematicians) take the nature and the results of mathematicians' activities as given, and go on to ask what philosophical morals one might perhaps find in their story. On the other hand, some philosophers, logicians and mathematicians have tried or are trying to subject the very concepts which mathematicians are using in their work to critical scrutiny. In practice this usually means scrutinizing the logical and linguistic tools mathematicians wield. Such scrutiny can scarcely help relying on philosophical ideas and principles. In other words it can scarcely help being literally a study of language, truth and logic in mathematics, albeit not necessarily in the spirit of AJ. Ayer.

There are many kinds of books on formal logic. Some have philosophers as their intended audience, some mathematicians, some computer scien­ tists. Although there is a common core to all such books, they will be very different in emphasis, methods, and even appearance.