Synopsis
This is a compact mtroduction to some of the pnncipal tOpICS of mathematical logic . In the belief that beginners should be exposed to the most natural and easiest proofs, I have used free-swinging set-theoretic methods. The significance of a demand for constructive proofs can be evaluated only after a certain amount of experience with mathematical logic has been obtained. If we are to be expelled from "Cantor's paradise" (as nonconstructive set theory was called by Hilbert), at least we should know what we are missing. The major changes in this new edition are the following. (1) In Chapter 5, Effective Computability, Turing-computabIlity IS now the central notion, and diagrams (flow-charts) are used to construct Turing machines. There are also treatments of Markov algorithms, Herbrand-Godel-computability, register machines, and random access machines. Recursion theory is gone into a little more deeply, including the s-m-n theorem, the recursion theorem, and Rice's Theorem. (2) The proofs of the Incompleteness Theorems are now based upon the Diagonalization Lemma. Lob's Theorem and its connection with Godel's Second Theorem are also studied. (3) In Chapter 2, Quantification Theory, Henkin's proof of the completeness theorem has been postponed until the reader has gained more experience in proof techniques. The exposition of the proof itself has been improved by breaking it down into smaller pieces and using the notion of a scapegoat theory. There is also an entirely new section on semantic trees.
Review
Nearly forty years after it was published (1964), Elliot Mendelson's Introduction to Mathematical Logic still remains the best textbook on the principle topics of this subject...I have used Mendelson's book to teach a one-semester course to advanced undergraduate and graduate students with great success.
- Alan Berger
In my work as a math teacher, researcher, author and journal editor, I often encounter problems with a logical component. When that need arises, my first choice of reference is always this book. It is the most concise and readable introductory text I have ever encountered and it is a rare occasion when I fail to find the background material needed to solve the problem. It is also an excellent source of problems and I have pulled the ideas for many test questions from it over the years.
-Charles Ashbacher
I was sufficiently fortunate to have taken Professor Emeritus Mendelson's famous logic course at Queens College, the City University of New York, just two semesters before his retirement. I was, and continue to be, astonished by Dr. Mendelson's precise yet easy style, and the beautifully efficient organization of the subjects. Everything from the expository prose to the system of notational conventions has been carefully thought through so as to make the book both very substantive and very readable. In my opinion, it's the best introduction to serious mathematical logic currently on the market, and thanks to the genius of its author, it is likely to remain so for a long time. The buyer will not be disappointed.
-Joseph Jay Stern
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