# zbMATH — the first resource for mathematics

Logic for information technology. (English) Zbl 0724.03002
Chichester etc.: John Wiley & Sons. viii, 290 p. £32.50/hbk; $74.75/hbk; £17.50/pbk;$ 40.25/pbk (1990).
This book is an introduction to formal logic designed around the needs of students in computer science. As such, it covers the syntax, semantics, and metatheory of propositional and predicate logic. Additional chapters provide an introduction to first order theories and to modal and temporal logic. The text includes exercises and some solutions to these are provided.
This book is distinguished from others not by the basic coverage but by small additions to the basic topics which occur throughout the text. Algorithmic issues receive constant attention. Notions of decidability and computability including references to Gödel, Church, Turing, and Cook shade the treatment of many topics. One peculiarity of the text is that the predicate calculus is presented without the use of free variables. The author claims that in addition to being true to the tradition of Frege this approach reduces student confusion.
While the text is intended for students of computer science, it could be used easily in other circumstances because it presupposes no knowledge of computer science and nearly no background in mathematics. Modal logic is an area of considerable importance in philosophy but few elementary logic texts include any treatment of it at all. This text could help to fill this gap.

##### MSC:
 03-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to mathematical logic and foundations 03B05 Classical propositional logic 03B10 Classical first-order logic 03B45 Modal logic (including the logic of norms)