In 1931 Kurt Godel published his fundamental paper, "On Formally Undecidable Propositions of "Principia Mathematica" and Related Systems." This revolutionary paper challenged certain basic assumptions underlying much research in mathematics and logic. Godel received public recognition of his work in 1951 when he was awarded the first Albert Einstein Award for achievement in the natural sciences--perhaps the highest award of its kind in the United States. The award committee described his work in mathematical logic as "one of the greatest contributions to the sciences in recent times."

However, few mathematicians of the time were equipped to understand the young scholar's complex proof. Ernest Nagel and James Newman provide a readable and accessible explanation to both scholars and non-specialists of the main ideas and broad implications of Godel's discovery. It offers every educated person with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to understand a previously difficult and inaccessible subject.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the original publication of Godel's Proof, New York University Press is proud to publish this special anniversary edition of one of its bestselling and most frequently translated books. With a new introduction by Douglas R. Hofstadter, this book will appeal students, scholars, and professionals in the fields of mathematics, computer science, logic and philosophy, and science.

'Nagel and Newman accomplish the wondrous task of clarifying the argumentative outline of Kurt Godel's celebrated logic bomb.' - The Guardian In 1931 the mathematical logician Kurt Godel published a revolutionary paper that challenged certain basic assumptions underpinning mathematics and logic. A colleague of physicist Albert Einstein, his theorem proved that mathematics was partly based on propositions not provable within the mathematical system. The importance of Godel's Proof rests upon its radical implications and has echoed throughout many fields, from maths to science to philosophy, computer design, artificial intelligence, even religion and psychology. While others such as Douglas Hofstadter and Roger Penrose have published bestsellers based on Godel's theorem, this is the first book to present a readable explanation to both scholars and non-specialists alike. A gripping combination of science and accessibility, Godel's Proof by Nagel and Newman is for both mathematicians and the idly curious, offering those with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to satisfy their intellectual curiosity. Kurt Godel (1906 - 1978) Born in Brunn, he was a colleague of physicist Albert Einstein and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.

'Nagel and Newman accomplish the wondrous task of clarifying the argumentative outline of Kurt Godel's celebrated logic bomb.' - The Guardian In 1931 the mathematical logician Kurt Godel published a revolutionary paper that challenged certain basic assumptions underpinning mathematics and logic. A colleague of physicist Albert Einstein, his theorem proved that mathematics was partly based on propositions not provable within the mathematical system. The importance of Godel's Proof rests upon its radical implications and has echoed throughout many fields, from maths to science to philosophy, computer design, artificial intelligence, even religion and psychology. While others such as Douglas Hofstadter and Roger Penrose have published bestsellers based on Godel's theorem, this is the first book to present a readable explanation to both scholars and non-specialists alike. A gripping combination of science and accessibility, Godel's Proof by Nagel and Newman is for both mathematicians and the idly curious, offering those with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to satisfy their intellectual curiosity. Kurt Godel (1906 - 1978) Born in Brunn, he was a colleague of physicist Albert Einstein and professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.

An accessible explanation of Kurt Goedel's groundbreaking work in mathematical logic In 1931 Kurt Goedel published his fundamental paper, "On Formally Undecidable Propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems." This revolutionary paper challenged certain basic assumptions underlying much research in mathematics and logic. Goedel received public recognition of his work in 1951 when he was awarded the first Albert Einstein Award for achievement in the natural sciences-perhaps the highest award of its kind in the United States. The award committee described his work in mathematical logic as "one of the greatest contributions to the sciences in recent times." However, few mathematicians of the time were equipped to understand the young scholar's complex proof. Ernest Nagel and James Newman provide a readable and accessible explanation to both scholars and non-specialists of the main ideas and broad implications of Goedel's discovery. It offers every educated person with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to understand a previously difficult and inaccessible subject. New York University Press is proud to publish this special edition of one of its bestselling books. With a new introduction by Douglas R. Hofstadter, this book will appeal students, scholars, and professionals in the fields of mathematics, computer science, logic and philosophy, and science.

"Ernest Nagel's work, The Structure of Science , has earned for itself the status of an outstanding standard work in its field. It offers an exceptionally thorough and comprehensive methodological and philosophical exploration encountered in those diverse fields. Nagel's discussion is distinguished by the lucidity of its style, the incisiveness of its reasoning, and the solidity of its grounding in all the major branches of scientific inquiry. The Structure of Science has become a highly influential work that is widely invoked in the methodological and philosophical literature. Recent controversies between analytics and historic-sociological approaches to the philosophy of science have not diminished its significance; in fact, it seems to me that the pragmatist component in Nagel's thinking may be helpful for efforts to develop a rapprochement between the contending schools." --Carl G. Hempel

Written for independent study and suitable for an introductory course in logic, this classic text combines a sound presentation of logic with effective pedagogy and illustrates the role of logic in many areas of humanistic and scientific thought. Cohen and Nagel's elegant integration of the history of philosophy, natural science, and mathematics helps earn this work its distinguished reputation.

From the Introduction. In 1931 there appeared in a German scientific periodical a relatively short paper with the forbidding title ""Uber formal unentscheidbare Satze der Principia Mathematica und verwandter Systeme"" (""On Formally Undecidable propositions of Principia Mathematica and Related Systems""). Its author was Kurt Godel, then a young mathematician of 25 at the University of Vienna and since 1938 a permanent member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. The paper is a milestone in the history of logic and mathematics. When Harvard University awarded Godel an honorary degree in 1952, the citation described the work as one of the most important advances in logic in modern times. At the time of its appearance, however, neither the title of Godel's paper nor its content was intelligible to most mathematicians.

Contributing Authors Include Hughes Leblanc, Richard Jeffrey, Wesley Salmon And Many Others.

Additional Authors Carl G. Hempel, N. L. Wilson, R. M. Martin, Vincent A. Tomas, Douglas N. Morgan, A. I. Melden, W. K. Frankena.

"Introduccion a la logica," de M.R. Cohen ofrece -mediante ensayos en que aborda sus mas senalados problemas- un amplio panorama de la situacion de esa ciencia. Lejos de concebirla como una meditacion abstracta, se insiste en afirmar que la logica constituye el nucleo mismo de la filosofia, porque su objeto es el aspecto formal "de todo lo que existe." De esta manera, el autor se arriesga, con inteligencia y firme conocimiento de las cuestiones tratadas, a investigar su estricta relacion con los campos en que imperan las ciencias naturales, la historia, la etica y la filosofia en general. Es decir, establece sus vinculos con el resto del universo, no sin antes aclarar cuales son los supuestos filosoficos en que se sustenta, y las aplicaciones de donde deriva su importancia, sirviendose de los trabajos de quienes han ido algo mas alla de la logica aristotelica, a fin de comprobar que se trata de un instrumento vivo que, a mas de fijar metodos, irrumpe en el campo de las probabilidades y aun de las incertidumbres de que la ciencia moderna ha hecho su objeto. De acuerdo con este enfoque, la logica no pretende limitar los descubrimientos de la ciencia, sino que es un instrumento necesario para llevar adelante las cada vez mas dilatadas exploraciones en el mundo de la materia.

An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method is a college level primer on logic. This book was widely used by scholars especially those studying economics as an introduction to logical thought in preparation for intellectual discourse. Ludwig von Mises was known to say that all students of economics should read this book as a first step in their training as economists.