Mathematical Logic

Rating:
Summary: Not for the autodidact
Review: Ten years ago, I took an undergraduate course in symbolic logic. Wishing recently to refresh my (extremely rusty) memories of the propositional calculus and the first-order predicate calculus, I picked up this meaty text and was extremely dismayed to find myself soundly defeated within the first few pages. Kleene does not even make a pretense of holding the reader's hand: either you get it or you don't. There is nothing even remotely "user-friendly" about this book's presentation of its material.

If one were to read this book under the guidance of a teacher, I think it might be worthwhile. It may not be fair for me to blame the author for my inability to understand his writing. If you're smarter than I am, you might breeze right through it.

I cannot recommend this book, though, good though it may be, for anyone who wishes to teach him/herself logic, nor for anyone who wishes to brush up on the subject. There are exercises for the reader to test his/her understanding of the material, but no answer key is provided. This is heavy-duty stuff, and not well-suited to the self-teacher.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the autodidact
Review: Ten years ago, I took an undergraduate course in symbolic logic. Wishing recently to refresh my (extremely rusty) memories of the propositional calculus and the first-order predicate calculus, I picked up this meaty text and was extremely dismayed to find myself soundly defeated within the first few pages. Kleene does not even make a pretense of holding the reader's hand: either you get it or you don't. There is nothing even remotely "user-friendly" about this book's presentation of its material.

If one were to read this book under the guidance of a teacher, I think it might be worthwhile. It may not be fair for me to blame the author for my inability to understand his writing. If you're smarter than I am, you might breeze right through it.

I cannot recommend this book, though, good though it may be, for anyone who wishes to teach him/herself logic, nor for anyone who wishes to brush up on the subject. There are exercises for the reader to test his/her understanding of the material, but no answer key is provided. This is heavy-duty stuff, and not well-suited to the self-teacher.