Customer Reviews
What, no Boole? - By: Peter Reeve, 31 Oct 2005 
It may seem petty to complain about the omission of one logician in a book that covers such a vast scope in such little space, but reallly the absence of a key figure like George Boole is very strange. However, the book remains a great summary & overview. It introduces many important ideas & thinkers, is fun & readable & will help you decide if you want to pursue the subject further. If you do, the reading list at the end will steer you in the right direction. If you are completely new to the subject, I would not actuallly recommend this as your very first book. Ironicallly enough, you would be better starting with an elementary text on Boolean algebra, to show you some formal logic in action. Then you would get more out of this present work, the great strength of which is that it provides a historical & conceptual framework for further study.
A really helpful overview - By: D. Pavett, 06 Mar 2005 
I studied quite a lot of the material in this book at universtity. I understood many of the different contributions but could not see the development of logical ideas in the 20th century as a whole. After reading this book you will be able to see the relationship between major ideas in philosophy, logic, mathematics & linguistics. One could quibble about details but why bother? Overalll the book makes hard ideas accessible & puts them into context. What more can you ask for?
There is no such thing as Logic - By: , 01 Jan 2003 This book actuallly does what it says - give a introduction to logic.
But, & this is why the book is worth 5 stars, it is an textbook example of how a slim volume can sumarise an entire subject in human history.
My belief in rationality was overturned, matured & finallly reconstructed!!!
Buy this book if you a techie, & think that almost alll problems in the world could be managed if the world would come to it's senses & stop oversimplifing everything!!!
