Perspectives on the history of mathematical logic

Thomas Drucker (eds.)9780817647681, 9780817647698, 0817634444, 3764334444

This volume offers insights into the development of mathematical logic over the last century. Arising from a special session of the history of logic at an American Mathematical Society meeting, the chapters explore technical innovations, the philosophical consequences of work during the period, and the historical and social context in which the logicians worked.

The discussions herein will appeal to mathematical logicians and historians of mathematics, as well as philosophers and historians of science.

“…the standard of the articles in Drucker’s book is high and the book can be recommended to anyone interested in the history and development of mathematical logic this century.” – Newsletter of the New Zealand Mathematical Society

“…this is an important book. It exposes the richness of ideas and viewpoints, the difficult and not always direct pathways taken in the development of mathematical logic in the last century, and the various factors which did and continue to affect that development.” —Modern Logic

“Logicians with a side-interest in the development of their field will enjoy it, and will not find it taxing in either mathematical or historical detail. The human as well as the scientific side of the growth of important ideas and institutions are treated at an expansive level.” —Journal of Symbolic Logic

Table of contents :
Front Matter….Pages i-xxiii
The Problem of Elimination in the Algebra of Logic….Pages 1-9
Peirce and the Law of Distribution….Pages 10-32
The First Russell Paradox….Pages 33-46
Principia Mathematica and the Development of Automated Theorem Proving….Pages 47-53
Oswald Veblen and the Origins of Mathematical Logic at Princeton….Pages 54-70
The Löwenheim-Skolem Theorem, Theories of Quantification, and Proof Theory….Pages 71-83
The Reception of Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems….Pages 84-100
Gödel’s and Some Other Examples of Problem Transmutation….Pages 101-109
The Development of Self-Reference: Löb’s Theorem….Pages 110-133
The Unintended Interpretations of Intuitionistic Logic….Pages 134-160
The Writing of Introduction to Metamathematics ….Pages 161-168
In Memoriam: Haskell Brooks Curry….Pages 169-175
The Work of J. Richard Büchi….Pages 176-189
Back Matter….Pages 191-195