A Mathematical Introduction to Logic, Second Edition | 
| Author: Herbert B. Enderton
Publisher: Academic Press
Category: Book
List Price: $107.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 99861
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 317
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0122384520
Dewey Decimal Number: 511.3
EAN: 9780122384523
ASIN: 0122384520
Publication Date: December 2000
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Product Description
A Mathematical Introduction to Logic, Second Edition, offers increased flexibility with topic coverage, allowing for choice in how to utilize the textbook in a course. The author has made this edition more accessible to better meet the needs of today's undergraduate mathematics and philosophy students. It is intended for the reader who has not studied logic previously, but who has some experience in mathematical reasoning. Material is presented on computer science issues such as computational complexity and database queries, with additional coverage of introductory material such as sets.
* Increased flexibility of the text, allowing instructors more choice in how they use the textbook in courses.
* Reduced mathematical rigour to fit the needs of undergraduate students
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 From the point of a CS student September 6, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
It's very hard to review a book like this without letting personal interest in the subject bias you... but I'll try ;).
I used this book in my fourth year at Berkeley. Being a CS major, I found the chapter on sentential (aka boolean) logic very pedantic. I feel that most people are going to be able to easily navigate that part by sheer intuition.
On the other hand, first-order logic (the real meat of the course) comes with little motivation from Enderton. He simply dives into the syntax, as if the semmantics will be just as obvious as in sentential logic.
One of the main points of this class that I didn't understand until late in the semester, was that mathematical logic is merely an attempt to model (using symbols) the logic most mathematician use proofs, which are written in words. In turn, this gives us a framework to reason about mathematical logic itself, creating a whole new branch of mathematics in its own right (perhaps you can see why it took me a while to understand all this). The only attempt that Enderton makes to explain this is a poorly drawn diagram of "meta-theorems" on top, which are the results of mathematical logic, and theorems, which are the subjects of mathematical logic, on the bottom.
The oddest thing about this book was its treatment of algorithms, which is one of the most interesting aspects of this subject. Any (meta)theorems about those were marked with a star, because a precise definition of an algorithm is never given. I'm guessing most reviewers who praise the rigor of this book tend to overlook this weakness, because they come from math departments and not CS departments. If you take a course in computability and complexity theory, you'll see the two subjects are intimately intertwined.
This may be the best book on the subject, but I did not feel it guide me very much through the course, esp the later half about first-order logic.
 John Wilson July 24, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Keen students may find if they study and parse both editions of Enderton's
Logic they may find much of interest. Getting to the root of a problem
can be of use in many situations. So best of luck.
 Moderately difficult and very effective July 18, 2006
14 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is the most clear book on intermediate level logic that is available. I have many of the logic books that are on its level, and this one is perfect. It covers the most important, difficult concepts in the easiest way possible. It is above all clear (though very terse). It is easier than Mendelson's text but, in my opinion, as it pertains to First Order Logic and Computability Theory, one learns no more through Mendelson's approach.
Perhaps its only problem is that it might be just a bit too difficult without an understanding, helpful instructor (or TA) to guide one through the exercises. At any rate an effective progression up to the book might entail: Patty's "Foundations of Higher Mathematics", to Klenk's "Understanding Symbolic Logic", to "Logic, Sets, and Recursion" by Causey. Only after equivalent material has been understood thoroughly can the more hardcore semantics and mathematics of Enderton's book be fully comprehended. And, gone at alone on one's free time such a progression might take up to 2.5 years, maybe more.
Readable but a bit rough July 12, 2005
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
It tries to be a readable undergrad introduction and mostly succeeds. Explanations are generally not tight and memorable, proofs seem loose, there are sometimes gaps in the train of thought, and exercises often require a significant conceptual leap from the preceding text. It was particularly annoying the way he suddenly switched to Polish notation for a while and then just as suddenly dropped it, without any obvious benefit. However, it is more accessible than most mathematical logic texts. The main competition for this text would be Ebbinghaus, which I prefer. The benefits of Enderton over that book are that it covers a wider range of topics and has a lot more exercises.
Terrific Book January 3, 2005
10 out of 14 found this review helpful
Enderton's writing is the best I've seen in any introductory math textbook; he is lucid, well organised, comfortably paced but free of expository flab. The exercises (judging from chapters 2 and 3) are not terribly difficult, but quite useful in building one's intuition and connecting logic to other mathematics. I had the book for my Logic class as a first-semester sophomore with very little experience with proofs and no abstract algebra, and found it quite accessible. I guess the book starts off with an advantage, being about a subject as interesting as logic, but that does not seriously detract from its merit.
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