Product Description

The Fourth Edition of this long-established text retains all the key features of the previous editions, covering the basic topics of a solid first course in mathematical logic. This edition includes an extensive appendix on second-order logic, a section on set theory with urlements, and a section on the logic that results when we allow models with empty domains. The text contains numerous exercises and an appendix furnishes answers to many of them. In Introduction to Mathematical Logic all topics are presented in a clear, reader-friendly style that will be valued by anyone working in computer science as well as lecturers and researchers in mathematics, philosophy, and related fields.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #536114 in Books
• Published on: 1997-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 456 pages

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 subjectI 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

From the Back Cover
The Fourth Edition of this long-established text retains all the key features of the previous editions, covering the basic topics of a solid first course in mathematical logic. This edition includes an extensive appendix on second-order logic, a section on set theory with urlements, and a section on the logic that results when we allow models with empty domains. The text contains numerous exercises and an appendix furnishes answers to many of them.
Introduction to Mathematical Logic includes:

Customer Reviews

Wonderful at the second glance
Mendelson's Introduction to Mathematical Logic was the textbook for a logic-course I took a couple of years ago. At the time I did not like the book at all. It seemed too difficult and so typographically ugly that I thought I would never use it.

Things have changed though.
Now, I keep it close at hand on my desk and refer to it frequently. Technical questions that used to require a trip to the library and several different books to answer, can usually be resolved by a look in Mendelson's book. It's wonderfully rich and clear! I still don't find everything easy but that's because the material isn't easy and so not something Mendelson can be blamed for. I do find the typography ugly and at times annoying, but that's a small price to pay for a presentation as rigorous and detailed as Mendelson's.

So, in summary: it's not the ideal book for the complete newcomer (unless he or she comes to it with some mathematical sophistication), but once you get past the initial hurdle it's a must read. It's a little on the expensive side, but if you're serious about logic it is definitely worth it.