scientific article; zbMATH DE number 107978

Publication date 23 January 1993

Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to mathematics in general (00-01) Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to mathematical logic and foundations (03-01)

Review text

This book is an elementary introduction to the concept of abstract mathematics. Its intended audience is a student beginning to make the transition from introductory calculus courses to courses which require a greater level of rigor and abstraction. What distinguishes this book from many others is the author's conviction that what students need to master is a new language (`the language of mathematics') and a new mode of thinking (`mathematical thinking'). However, this is not a book in formal logic. The author believes that formal logic provides a model for mathematical thinking but logic is different from mathematical thinking. Logic, the author says, does not provide a framework for `doing proofs', it provides an idealized, abstract model of mathematical proofs. In keeping with this philosophy, the text emphasizes the concepts it presents while minimizing formality in the treatment of the topics. Topics treated include logic through quantification theory, elementary set theory, functions, relations, and complex numbers. Throughout the emphasis is on the development of skill in mathematical thinking. The text contains many exercises but by design includes no solutions. There is no bibliography either. The text is very clearly written. Sophomore- level undergraduates should have no difficulty with the book. This second edition is nearly totally different from the first edition. The topics treated have been reordered, every treatment has been changed, and the number of exercises has been increased.

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