Simple Type Theory: A Practical Logic for Expressing and Reasoning About Mathematical Ideas (Computer Science Foundations and Applied Logic) - Softcover

Farmer, William M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 3031211146 ISBN 13: 9783031211140

Publisher: Birkhäuser, 2024

Synopsis

This unique textbook, in contrast to a standard logic text, provides the reader with a logic that actually can be used in practice to express and reason about mathematical ideas.

The book is an introduction to simple type theory, a classical higher-order version of predicate logic that extends first-order logic. It presents a practice-oriented logic called Alonzo that is based on Alonzo Church's formulation of simple type theory known as Church's type theory. Unlike traditional predicate logics, Alonzo admits undefined expressions. The book illustrates, using Alonzo, how simple type theory is suited ideally for reasoning about mathematical structures and constructing libraries of mathematical knowledge.

Topics and features:

• Offers the first book-length introduction to simple type theory as a predicate logic
• Provides the reader with a logic that is close to mathematical practice
• Presents the tools needed to build libraries of mathematical knowledge
• Employs two semantics, one for mathematics and one for logic
• Emphasizes the model-theoretic view of predicate logic
• Includes several important topics, such as definite description and theory morphisms, not usually found in standard logic textbooks

Aimed at students of computing and mathematics at the graduate or upper-undergraduate level, this book is also well-suited for mathematicians, computing professionals, engineers, and scientists who need a practical logic for expressing and reasoning about mathematical ideas.

William M. Farmer is a Professor in the Department of Computing and Software at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

About this title

About the Author

William M. Farmer has over 35 years of experience working in industry and academia in computing and mathematics. He received a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame in 1978 and an M.A. in mathematics in 1980, an M.S. in computer sciences in 1983, and a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1984 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Computing and Software at McMaster University. Before joining McMaster in 1999, he conducted research in computer science for twelve years at The MITRE Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts, USA and taught computer programming and networking courses for two years at St. Cloud State University. 

Dr. Farmer's research interests are logic, mechanized mathematics, mathematical knowledge management, and formal methods. One of his most significant achievements is the design and implementation of the IMPS proof assistant, which was done at MITRE in partnership with Dr. JoshuaGuttman and Dr. Javier Thayer. His work on IMPS has lead to research on developing practice-oriented logics and set theories and on organizing mathematical knowledge as a network of interconnected axiomatic theories. He and Dr. Jacques Carette are currently leading the MathScheme project at McMaster with the aim of developing a framework for integrating axiomatic and algorithmic mathematics. On this project Dr. Farmer has focused on how to reason about the interplay of syntax and semantics, as exhibited in syntax-based mathematical algorithms like symbolic differentiation, within a logic equipped with global quotation and evaluation operators. Dr. Farmer has had a career-long interest in using simple type theory as a practical logic for expressing and reasoning about mathematical ideas. He is the author of "The Seven Virtues of Simple Type Theory", Journal of Applied Logic, 6:267-286, 2008, one of the leading references on simple type theory.

The book is an introduction to simple type theory, a classical higher-order version of predicate logic that extends first-order logic. It presents a practice-oriented logic called Alonzo that is based on Alonzo Church's formulation of simple type theory known as Church's type theory. Unlike traditional predicate logics, Alonzo admits undefined expressions. The book illustrates, using Alonzo, how simple type theory is suited ideally for reasoning about mathematical structures and constructing libraries of mathematical knowledge.

Topics and features:

• Offers the first book-length introduction to simple type theory as a predicate logic
• Provides the reader with a logic that is close to mathematical practice
• Presents the tools needed to build libraries of mathematical knowledge
• Employs two semantics, one for mathematics and one for logic
• Emphasizes the model-theoretic view of predicate logic
• Includes several important topics, such as definite description and theory morphisms, not usually found in standard logic textbooks

Aimed at students of computing and mathematics at the graduate or upper-undergraduate level, this book is also well-suited for mathematicians, computing professionals, engineers, and scientists who need a practical logic for expressing and reasoning about mathematical ideas.

William M. Farmer is a Professor in the Department of Computing and Software at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Edition details

• Publisher: Birkhäuser
• Publication date: 2024
• ISBN 10: 3031211146
• ISBN 13: 9783031211140
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 309