ENGLISH

Forever undecided, a puzzle guide to Godel

By Raymond Smullyan

Book information

Publisher
OUP
Year
1987
ISBN
9780394549439, 0394549430
LCC
QA9.65 .S68 1987
Open Library ID
OL21376184M
Language
english
Format
DJVU
Filesize
1 MB (1326101 bytes)
Pages
269\269
Library
Kolxo3
DPI
600
Time added
2010-07-29 05:14:56

Description

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.

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