Logic for Dummies

by Mark Zegarelli

Logic concepts are more mainstream than you may realize. There's logic every place you look and in almost everything you do, from deciding which shirt to buy to asking your boss for a raise, and even to watching television, where themes of such shows as "CSI" and "Numbers" incorporate a variety of logistical studies. "Logic For Dummies" explains a vast array of logical concepts and processes in easy-to-understand language that make everything clear to you, whether you're a college student of a student of life. You'll find out about: Formal LogicSyllogismsConstructing proofs and refutationsPropositional and predicate logicModal and fuzzy logicSymbolic logicDeductive and inductive reasoningL"ogic For Dummies" tracks an introductory logic course at the college level. Concrete, real-world examples help you understand each concept you encounter, while fully worked out proofs and fun logic problems encourage you students to apply what you've learned.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Mathematics, Logic, Reference

384 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 15, 2010

Reviews

[Mrinny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may not be what people expect when they pick up 'Logic for dummies'. It is more accurate to go by the subtitle: 'The fun and easy way to get a handle on logical arguments, deductions and proof'.

As a well planned and arranged primer, reference manual and cheat book, I think this book does a great job. The author has really done well in trying to bring a black and white topic to life. The humour in the book is intelligent and not at all cheezy or silly.

I can confidantly say that I have a much better understanding of logic in general, which forms are used in various situations, strengths and weaknesses of choosing one or the other to define your problem as well as advances in the field, paradoxes and popular techniques used in several cases.

I must admit though, the title was misleading for me too, just as a lot of people have mentioned. On the other hand, once begun, it was like leaving a math problem halfway through... Just couldn't help but go through it. It is a quick read. Definately recommended.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the "For Dummies" books for things I don't know fully. I skimmed this book and still refer back to it.

[Fatih · Rating 4 out of 5]

This genre of books are very beneficial if you knew and just forgot and you need a quick reminder on what the book covers. Otherwise, i wouldn't suggest.

[Rita Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book when I was helping a friend understand an online Logic course. I thought it was pretty good in explaining some of the initial concepts, but as the subject became more difficult, the book was less helpful.

[Matt Whitby · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had one question I wanted clearing up and this book doesn't address it.

[Charles Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction

[Drew Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read this from pure interest and have since completed a course in Logic within the Maths department. This book certainly prepared me well for the course although it is certainly fair to say this book deal mainly with Logic as it relates to validating inferences and doesn't deal with the 'deeper' stuff you would find in most logic textbooks or courses, this is probably mainly due to it being quite a mathematical topic and would require a reasonable amount of knowledge in basic mathematics (i.e. Set Theory). I would recommend this to any one interested in the topic as a place to start and the subject of Logic can get quite complicated quite quickly!

[Don Libes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book's title is misleading. It's not really about the general field of logic as implied by its title. I would say the book is more specialized to the subfield of Theorem Proving. But "Logic for Theorem Proving for Dummies" is a bit less likely to grab people. :-P

Needless to say, this is a very specialized field - even at the dummies level! That said, I found the book to be pretty well written although there were a few mistakes and a few things that could have been explained better. But on the whole, pretty well written. I'm not aware of any better introduction to the subject.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a hard book to understand. I think I do better with videos and someone talking to be explaining logic. This book just gave "A and B" or "A or B" and gave variables and didn't really give examples. Or not enough examples. Once I saw that the entire book used A, B, X or Y for this or that, it was just too much like algebra. And I don't like algebra. If you love algebra or calculus, you may enjoy this topic and this book may be easy for you to understand.

[Aasim Waheed · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay; nothing special. Easy read (as most Dummies books are); a bit too technical in some chapters; good snippets of history.

My rating 5/10

[Jaxon Richmund · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars