Set Theory: An Introduction / Neuauflage Ist Broschiert - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0817632387 ISBN 13: 9780817632380

Synopsis

By its nature, set theory does not depend on any previous mathematical knowl­ edge. Hence, an individual wanting to read this book can best find out if he is ready to do so by trying to read the first ten or twenty pages of Chapter 1. As a textbook, the book can serve for a course at the junior or senior level. If a course covers only some of the chapters, the author hopes that the student will read the rest himself in the next year or two. Set theory has always been a sub­ ject which people find pleasant to study at least partly by themselves. Chapters 1-7, or perhaps 1-8, present the core of the subject. (Chapter 8 is a short, easy discussion of the axiom of regularity). Even a hurried course should try to cover most of this core (of which more is said below). Chapter 9 presents the logic needed for a fully axiomatic set th~ory and especially for independence or consistency results. Chapter 10 gives von Neumann's proof of the relative consistency of the regularity axiom and three similar related results. Von Neumann's 'inner model' proof is easy to grasp and yet it prepares one for the famous and more difficult work of GOdel and Cohen, which are the main topics of any book or course in set theory at the next level.

About this title

Review

"One of [the book's] strengths is the author's voice. His prose is clear and correct...The text is quite concise."

--Mathematical Reviews

"The volume is in a clear and interesting style and is highly recommended to undergraduate students of mathematics as well as philosophy."

--Acta Sci. Math. (on the first edition)

From the Back Cover

This book corresponds to a view of the subject from someone who has thought deeply about this and many other aspects of mathematical logic. The second edition has been expanded to include selected solutions to the problems, increasing its usefulness as a teaching tool.

Edition details

• ISBN 10: 0817632387
• ISBN 13: 9780817632380
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English