The Undecidable: Basic Papers on Undecidable Propostions, Unsolvable Problems and Computable Functions

Martin Davis

ISBN 10: 0486432289 / ISBN 13: 9780486432281

Published by Dover Publications Inc., 2004

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Undecidable: Basic Papers on Undecidable Propostions, Unsolvable Problems and Computable Functions
• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc.
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486432289
• ISBN 13: 9780486432281
• Binding: Paperback / softback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

An anthology of fundamental papers on undecidability and unsolvability, this classic reference opens with Gödel's landmark 1931 paper demonstrating that systems of logic cannot admit proofs of all true assertions of arithmetic. Subsequent papers by Gödel, Church, Turing, and Post single out the class of recursive functions as computable by finite algorithms. 1965 edition.

About the Author

Martin Davis: Computer Science Pioneer
Dover's publishing relationship with Martin Davis, now retired from NYU and living in Berkeley, goes back to 1985 when we reprinted his classic 1958 book Computability and Unsolvability, widely regarded as a classic of theoretical computer science. A graduate of New York's City College, Davis received his PhD from Princeton in the late 1940s and became one of the first computer programmers in the early 1950s, working on the ORDVAC computer at The University of Illinois. He later settled at NYU where he helped found the Computer Science Department.
Not many books from the infancy of computer science are still alive after several decades, but Computability and Unsolvability is the exception. And The Undecidable is an anthology of fundamental papers on undecidability and unsolvability by major figures in the field including Godel, Church, Turing, Kleene, and Post.
Critical Acclaim for Computability and Unsolvability:
"This book gives an expository account of the theory of recursive functions and some of its applications to logic and mathematics. It is well written and can be recommended to anyone interested in this field. No specific knowledge of other parts of mathematics is presupposed. Though there are no exercises, the book is suitable for use as a textbook." — J. C. E. Dekker, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 1959
Critical Acclaim for The Undecidable:
"A valuable collection both for original source material as well as historical formulations of current problems." — The Review of Metaphysics
"Much more than a mere collection of papers . . . a valuable addition to the literature." — Mathematics of Computation