Set Theory

Set Theory
Author: Abhijit Dasgupta
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 434
Release: 2013-12-11
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1461488540

What is a number? What is infinity? What is continuity? What is order? Answers to these fundamental questions obtained by late nineteenth-century mathematicians such as Dedekind and Cantor gave birth to set theory. This textbook presents classical set theory in an intuitive but concrete manner. To allow flexibility of topic selection in courses, the book is organized into four relatively independent parts with distinct mathematical flavors. Part I begins with the Dedekind–Peano axioms and ends with the construction of the real numbers. The core Cantor–Dedekind theory of cardinals, orders, and ordinals appears in Part II. Part III focuses on the real continuum. Finally, foundational issues and formal axioms are introduced in Part IV. Each part ends with a postscript chapter discussing topics beyond the scope of the main text, ranging from philosophical remarks to glimpses into landmark results of modern set theory such as the resolution of Lusin's problems on projective sets using determinacy of infinite games and large cardinals. Separating the metamathematical issues into an optional fourth part at the end makes this textbook suitable for students interested in any field of mathematics, not just for those planning to specialize in logic or foundations. There is enough material in the text for a year-long course at the upper-undergraduate level. For shorter one-semester or one-quarter courses, a variety of arrangements of topics are possible. The book will be a useful resource for both experts working in a relevant or adjacent area and beginners wanting to learn set theory via self-study.

Labyrinth of Thought

Labyrinth of Thought
Author: Jose Ferreiros
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2001-11-01
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9783764357498

"José Ferreirós has written a magisterial account of the history of set theory which is panoramic, balanced, and engaging. Not only does this book synthesize much previous work and provide fresh insights and points of view, but it also features a major innovation, a full-fledged treatment of the emergence of the set-theoretic approach in mathematics from the early nineteenth century. This takes up Part One of the book. Part Two analyzes the crucial developments in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, above all the work of Cantor, but also Dedekind and the interaction between the two. Lastly, Part Three details the development of set theory up to 1950, taking account of foundational questions and the emergence of the modern axiomatization." (Bulletin of Symbolic Logic)

Sets for Mathematics

Sets for Mathematics
Author: F. William Lawvere
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2003-01-27
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780521010603

In this book, first published in 2003, categorical algebra is used to build a foundation for the study of geometry, analysis, and algebra.

Defending the Axioms

Defending the Axioms
Author: Penelope Maddy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2011-01-27
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0199596182

Mathematics depends on proofs, and proofs must begin somewhere, from some fundamental assumptions. The axioms of set theory have long played this role, so the question of how they are properly judged is of central importance. Maddy discusses the appropriate methods for such evaluations and the philosophical backdrop that makes them appropriate.

New Foundations for Physical Geometry

New Foundations for Physical Geometry
Author: Tim Maudlin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2014-02
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0198701306

Tim Maudlin sets out a completely new method for describing the geometrical structure of spaces, and thus a better mathematical tool for describing and understanding space-time. He presents a historical review of the development of geometry and topology, and then his original Theory of Linear Structures.

Foundations of General Topology

Foundations of General Topology
Author: William J. Pervin
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2014-05-12
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1483225151

Foundations of General Topology presents the value of careful presentations of proofs and shows the power of abstraction. This book provides a careful treatment of general topology. Organized into 11 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the important notions about cardinal and ordinal numbers. This text then presents the fundamentals of general topology in logical order processing from the most general case of a topological space to the restrictive case of a complete metric space. Other chapters consider a general method for completing a metric space that is applicable to the rationals and present the sufficient conditions for metrizability. This book discusses as well the study of spaces of real-valued continuous functions. The final chapter deals with uniform continuity of functions, which involves finding a distance that satisfies certain requirements for all points of the space simultaneously. This book is a valuable resource for students and research workers.