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Forever Undecided Raymond M. Smullyan

Forever Undecided By Raymond M. Smullyan

Forever Undecided by Raymond M. Smullyan


£7.99
Condition - Very Good
Out of stock

Summary

A challenging puzzle collection and an instructive and entertaining introduction to Kurt Godel's famous theorems, including incompleteness and undecidability. The book is intended for for puzzle fans of every age and ability - from high-school whizz to seasoned mathematician.

Forever Undecided Summary

Forever Undecided: A Puzzle Guide to Godel by Raymond M. Smullyan

A challenging puzzle collection and an instructive and entertaining introduction to Kurt Godel's famous theorems, including incompleteness and undecidability. Much of the action of the book takes place on an imaginary and magical island, the Island of Knights and Knaves, where knights always make true statements, knaves always make false statements, and every inhabitant is either a knight or a knave. Here we meet an amazing array of characters, visitors to the island, seeking to determine the natives' true identities. Among them are the census-taker McGregor; a philosopher-logician in search of his flighty bird-wife Oona; and a regiment of Reasoners. By following the Reasoners through brain-tingling exercises and adventures - including journeys into the "other possible worlds" of Kripke semantics - even the most illogical of us should come to understand Godel's theorems, some of their philosophical and mathematical implications and why we, like Godel himself, must remain forever undecided! The book is intended for puzzle fans of every age and ability - from the high-school whizz to the seasoned mathematician, logician or computer scientist.

Table of Contents

Part I - You Might Be Surprized. 1: A Diabolical Puzzle. 2: Surprised?. Part II - The Logic of Lying and Truth Telling. 3: The Census Taker. 4: In Search of Oona. 5: An Interplanetary Tangle. Part III - Knights, Knaves, and Propositional Logic. 6: A Bit of Propositional Logic. 7: Knights, Knaves, and Propositional Logic. 8: Logical Closure and Consistency. Part IV - Let's Be Careful. 9: Paradoxical?. 10: The Problem Deepens. Part V - The Consistency Predicament. 11: Logicians Who Reason About Themselves. 12: The Consistency Predicament. 13: Godelian Systems. 14: More Consistency Problems. Part VI - Self-fulfilling Beliefs and Lob's Theorem. 15: Self-fulfilling beliefs. 16: The Rajah's Diamond. 17: Lob's Island. Part VII - In Deeper Waters. 18: Reasoners of Type G. 19: Modesty, Reflexivity, and Stability. Part VIII - Can't Decide!. 20: Forever Undecided. 21: More Indecisions. Part IX - Possible Worlds. 22: It Ain't Necessarily So. 23: Possible Worlds. 24: From Necessity to Provability. Part IX - Possible Worlds. 22: It Ain't Necessarily So Universe. 26: SOme Remarkable Logic Machines. 27: Modal Systems Self-Applied. Part XI - Finale. 28: Modal Systems, Machines, and Reasoners. 29: Some Strange Reasoners!. 30: In Retrospect

Additional information

GOR001475894
9780192801418
0192801414
Forever Undecided: A Puzzle Guide to Godel by Raymond M. Smullyan
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Oxford University Press
2000-11-30
272
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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