Kurt Godel, the greatest logician of our time, startled the world of mathematics in 1931 with his Theorem of Undecidability, which showed that some statements in mathematics are inherently "undecidable." His work on the completeness of logic, the incompleteness of number theory, and the consistency of the axiom of choice and the continuum theory brought him further worldwide fame. In this introductory volume, Raymond Smullyan, himself a well-known logician, guides the reader through the fascinating world of Godel's incompleteness theorems. The level of presentation is suitable for anyone with a basic acquaintance with mathematical logic. As a clear, concise introduction to a difficult but essential subject, the book will appeal to mathematicians, philosophers, and computer scientists.

'A wealth of examples to which solutions are given permeate the text so the reader will certainly be active.'The Mathematical GazetteThis is the final book written by the late great puzzle master and logician, Dr. Raymond Smullyan.This book is a sequel to my Beginner's Guide to Mathematical Logic.The previous volume deals with elements of propositional and first-order logic, contains a bit on formal systems and recursion, and concludes with chapters on Goedel's famous incompleteness theorem, along with related results.The present volume begins with a bit more on propositional and first-order logic, followed by what I would call a 'fein' chapter, which simultaneously generalizes some results from recursion theory, first-order arithmetic systems, and what I dub a 'decision machine.' Then come five chapters on formal systems, recursion theory and metamathematical applications in a general setting. The concluding five chapters are on the beautiful subject of combinatory logic, which is not only intriguing in its own right, but has important applications to computer science. Argonne National Laboratory is especially involved in these applications, and I am proud to say that its members have found use for some of my results in combinatory logic.This book does not cover such important subjects as set theory, model theory, proof theory, and modern developments in recursion theory, but the reader, after studying this volume, will be amply prepared for the study of these more advanced topics.

'A wealth of examples to which solutions are given permeate the text so the reader will certainly be active.'The Mathematical GazetteThis is the final book written by the late great puzzle master and logician, Dr. Raymond Smullyan.This book is a sequel to my Beginner's Guide to Mathematical Logic.The previous volume deals with elements of propositional and first-order logic, contains a bit on formal systems and recursion, and concludes with chapters on Goedel's famous incompleteness theorem, along with related results.The present volume begins with a bit more on propositional and first-order logic, followed by what I would call a 'fein' chapter, which simultaneously generalizes some results from recursion theory, first-order arithmetic systems, and what I dub a 'decision machine.' Then come five chapters on formal systems, recursion theory and metamathematical applications in a general setting. The concluding five chapters are on the beautiful subject of combinatory logic, which is not only intriguing in its own right, but has important applications to computer science. Argonne National Laboratory is especially involved in these applications, and I am proud to say that its members have found use for some of my results in combinatory logic.This book does not cover such important subjects as set theory, model theory, proof theory, and modern developments in recursion theory, but the reader, after studying this volume, will be amply prepared for the study of these more advanced topics.

This is an exciting if not rambling account of events of Raymond Smullyan's four lives - as a mathematical logician, musician, magician, and author - together with thoughts that come to his mind as he recalls them. This book includes topics from some of Smullyan's twenty-six books, as well as many of his favorite anecdotes and jokes. It also presents some generalizations of theorems of the great logicians Goedel and Tarski, and discusses logic in general, and how he won his wife with a logic trick! Smullyan also relates some of his teaching experiences, and expresses his views on mathematical education, and how our present textbooks are primarily responsible for its decline! About his life as a pianist, Smullyan relates a good deal about his experiences with the Piano Society - a wonderful organization to which he is a staunch contributor, and how he has had such delightful relations with many of its members. Last but not least, Smullyan recounts how he has known some lovely ladies over the years.

This is an exciting if not rambling account of events of Raymond Smullyan's four lives - as a mathematical logician, musician, magician, and author - together with thoughts that come to his mind as he recalls them. This book includes topics from some of Smullyan's twenty-six books, as well as many of his favorite anecdotes and jokes. It also presents some generalizations of theorems of the great logicians Goedel and Tarski, and discusses logic in general, and how he won his wife with a logic trick! Smullyan also relates some of his teaching experiences, and expresses his views on mathematical education, and how our present textbooks are primarily responsible for its decline! About his life as a pianist, Smullyan relates a good deal about his experiences with the Piano Society - a wonderful organization to which he is a staunch contributor, and how he has had such delightful relations with many of its members. Last but not least, Smullyan recounts how he has known some lovely ladies over the years.

Raymond Smullyan presents a bombshell puzzle so startling that it seems incredible that there could be any solution at all! But there is indeed a solution - moreover, one that requires a chain of lesser puzzles to be solved first. The reader is thus taken on a journey through a maze of subsidiary problems that has all the earmarks of an entertaining detective story.This book leads the unwary reader into deep logical waters through seductively entertaining logic puzzles. One example is Boolean algebra with such weird looking equations as 1+1=0 - a subject which today plays a vital role, not only in mathematical systems, but also in computer science and artificial intelligence.

Raymond Smullyan presents a bombshell puzzle so startling that it seems incredible that there could be any solution at all! But there is indeed a solution - moreover, one that requires a chain of lesser puzzles to be solved first. The reader is thus taken on a journey through a maze of subsidiary problems that has all the earmarks of an entertaining detective story.This book leads the unwary reader into deep logical waters through seductively entertaining logic puzzles. One example is Boolean algebra with such weird looking equations as 1+1=0 - a subject which today plays a vital role, not only in mathematical systems, but also in computer science and artificial intelligence.

This work is a sequel to the author's Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems, though it can be read independently by anyone familiar with Gödel's incompleteness theorem for Peano arithmetic. The book deals mainly with those aspects of recursion theory that have applications to the metamathematics of incompleteness, undecidability, and related topics. It is both an introduction to the theory and a presentation of new results in the field.

This new book by a renowned logician provides an introduction to self-reference and diagonalization, and presents a unified treatment of fixed points as they occur in Godels incompleteness proofs, recursion theory, combinatory logice, semantics, and metamethamatics. A survey of introductory material, metamathematics, and a summary of recent research are provided. A large number of exercises (with their solutions), are also provided in the introductory chapters.

This book serves both as a completely self-contained introduction and as an exposition of new results in the field of recursive function theory and its application to formal systems.

This book contains 50 elegant, witty chess problems concerned with deducing events in a game's past. Holmes instructs Watson in the intricacies of retrograde analysis, leading to increasingly difficult self-contained mysteries.

Is there really a God, and if so, what is God actually like? Is there an afterlife, and if so, is there such a thing as eternal punishment for unrepentant sinners, as many orthodox Christians and Muslims believe? And is it really true that our unconscious minds are connected to a higher spiritual reality, and if so, could this higher spiritual reality be the very same thing that religionists call "God"? In his latest book. Raymond M. Smullyan invites the reader to explore some beautiful and some horrible ideas related to religious and mystical thought. In Part One, Smullyan uses the writings on religious by fellow polymath Martin Gardner as the starting point for some inspired ideas about religion and belief. Part Two focuses on the doctrine of Hell and its justification, with Smullyan presenting powerful arguments on both sides of the controversy. "If God asked you to vote on the retention or abolition of Hell, " he asks, "how would you vote?" Smullyan has posed this question to many believers and received some surprising answers. In the last part of his treasurable triptych, Smullyan takes up the "beautiful and inspiring" ideas of Richard Bucke and Edward Carpenter on Cosmic Consciousness. Readers will delight in Smullyan's observations on religion and in his clear-eyed presentation of many new and startling ideas about this most wonderful product of human consciousness. A witty and stimulating inquiry into religion and mysticism by the best-selling philosopher.

In his most popular book since THE LADY OR THE TIGER? the grand vizier of the puzzle world gives us 1001 hours of brain-teasing fun. Smullyan includes wonderful old chestnuts and some fiendishly original puzzles, 225 in all. An absolute must for all puzzle fans from the middle-school whiz to the sophisticated matematician or computer scientist.

An introduction to quantification theory and an exposition of new results and techniques in "analytic" or "cut free" methods.

Characters from "Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass" populate these 88 puzzles involving word play, logic and metalogic, and philosophical paradoxes. The charmingly illustrated challenges range from easy to difficult and include solutions.