The nature of truth in mathematics is a problem which has exercised the minds of thinkers from at least the time of the ancient Greeks. The great advances in mathematics and philosophy in the twentieth century--and in particular the proof of Gödel's theorem and the development of the notion of independence in mathematics--have led to new viewpoints on his question. This book is the result of the interaction of a number of outstanding mathematicians and philosophers--including Yurii Manin, Vaughan Jones, and Per Martin-Löf--and their discussions of this problem. It provides an overview of the forefront of current thinking, and is a valuable introduction and reference for researchers in the area.

This book is of interest for students of mathematics or of neighboring subjects like physics, engineering, computer science, and also for people who have at least school level mathematics and have kept some interest in it. Also good for younger readers just reaching their final school year of mathematics.

This book is of interest for students of mathematics or of neighboring subjects like physics, engineering, computer science, and also for people who have at least school level mathematics and have kept some interest in it. Also good for younger readers just reaching their final school year of mathematics.

Forcing is a powerful tool from logic which is used to prove that certain propositions of mathematics are independent of the basic axioms of set theory, ZFC. This book explains clearly, to non-logicians, the technique of forcing and its connection with independence, and gives a full proof that a naturally arising and deep question of analysis is independent of ZFC. It provides an accessible account of this result, and it includes a discussion, of Martin's Axiom and of the independence of CH.