3rd Edition

Sets, Functions, and Logic An Introduction to Abstract Mathematics, Third Edition

By Keith Devlin Copyright 2003
    154 Pages 11 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    154 Pages
    by Chapman & Hall

    160 Pages 11 B/W Illustrations
    by Chapman & Hall

    Keith Devlin. You know him. You've read his columns in MAA Online, you've heard him on the radio, and you've seen his popular mathematics books. In between all those activities and his own research, he's been hard at work revising Sets, Functions and Logic, his standard-setting text that has smoothed the road to pure mathematics for legions of undergraduate students.

    Now in its third edition, Devlin has fully reworked the book to reflect a new generation. The narrative is more lively and less textbook-like. Remarks and asides link the topics presented to the real world of students' experience. The chapter on complex numbers and the discussion of formal symbolic logic are gone in favor of more exercises, and a new introductory chapter on the nature of mathematics--one that motivates readers and sets the stage for the challenges that lie ahead.

    Students crossing the bridge from calculus to higher mathematics need and deserve all the help they can get. Sets, Functions, and Logic, Third Edition is an affordable little book that all of your transition-course students not only can afford, but will actually read…and enjoy…and learn from.

    About the Author

    Dr. Keith Devlin is Executive Director of Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information and a Consulting Professor of Mathematics at Stanford. He has written 23 books, one interactive book on CD-ROM, and over 70 published research articles. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a World Economic Forum Fellow, and a former member of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Academy of Sciences,.

    Dr. Devlin is also one of the world's leading popularizers of mathematics. Known as "The Math Guy" on NPR's Weekend Edition, he is a frequent contributor to other local and national radio and TV shows in the US and Britain, writes a monthly column for the Web journal MAA Online, and regularly writes on mathematics and computers for the British newspaper The Guardian.

    PREFACE
    STUDENTS START HERE
    WHAT IS MATHEMATICS AND WHAT DOES IT DO FOR US?
    It's Not Just Numbers
    Mathematical Notation
    Making the Invisible Visible
    This is Where You Come In
    The Study of Modern Mathematics
    MATH SPEAK
    The Language of Mathematics: Part 1
    Properties of the Language
    The Language of Mathematics: Part 2
    Properties of Quantification
    Proofs in Mathematics
    The Integers
    Mathematical Truth
    SET THEORY
    Sets
    Operations on Sets
    Real Intervals
    Absolute Values
    Inequalities
    Arbitrary Unions and Intersections
    Cartesian Products
    The Historical Development of Set Theory
    FUNCTIONS
    The Function Concept
    Examples of Functions
    History of the Modern Function Concept
    One-One and onto Functions
    Composition and Inverse Functions
    Denumerability
    Uncountability
    RELATIONS
    Binary Relations
    Properties of Relations
    Relations as Sets of Ordered Pairs
    Relations as Graphs
    Equivalence Relations
    Functions as Relations
    An Example: the Reals
    Upper Bounds. Completeness
    Sequences
    No Answers to the Exercises
    List of Symbols
    Index

    Biography

    Dr. Keith Devlin is Executive Director of Stanford University's Center for the Study of Language and Information and a Consulting Professor of Mathematics at Stanford. He has written 23 books, one interactive book on CD-ROM, and over 70 published research articles. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a World Economic Forum Fellow, and a former member of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Academy of Sciences,.

    Dr. Devlin is also one of the world's leading popularizers of mathematics. Known as The Math Guy on NPR's Weekend Edition, he is a frequent contributor to other local and national radio and TV shows in the US and Britain, writes a monthly column for the Web journal MAA Online, and regularly writes on mathematics.

    "The book is written in a language both accessible and attractive to students. The author succeeds in not falling into the trap of a sort of 'mathematical baby talk' to meet his goals. … Students crossing the bridge from calculus to higher mathematics will find the book very helpful. But it is also very helpful to academics in other areas who want to have access to mathematical publications relevant to their fields, but need to become familiar with the notations and language currently used by research mathematicians."
    - Zentralblatt MATH, 1048