Introducing Logic: A Graphic Guide

Introducing Graphic Guides

by Bill Mayblin, Sharron Shatil, Bill Mayblin (Illustrator)

Logic is the backbone of Western civilization, holding together its systems of philosophy, science and law. Yet despite logic's widely acknowledged importance, it remains an unbroken seal for many, due to its heavy use of jargon and mathematical symbolism. This book follows the historical development of logic, explains the symbols and methods involved and explores the philosophical issues surrounding the topic in an easy-to-follow and friendly manner.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Logic, Science, Graphic Novels, History, Mathematics

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Mohamed al-Jamri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book as a gift for being the "Reader of the Month" for February in Bahrain Readers Challenge.

It is short and illustrated with nice artworks. It uses a historical approch to logic. From Aristotle to Turing and Chomsky many ideas are explored. These include Greek paradoxes, the scientific method, proof theory, Gödel's incompleteness theorem, relativism, intuitionism and several others.

My main take on the book is that is doesn't explore these ideas in any detail, it merely let's you know of their existence with a very short summary of their basic concepts. This is not necessarily the fate of all short books as can be seen in books from Very Short Introductions series (such as that on philosophy of science or Marx and Hegel). This book however made the mistake of taking a huge number of topics and therefore in my opinion failed to explain any of them in sufficient detail.

[Amir matin Ghariblu]

چقدر این سری راهنماهای گرافیکی نشر آیکون بوکس (که در ایران بیشتر توسط نشر شیرازه ترجمه و منتشر شده) و البته مشابه های نشر های دیگر مثل وایلی و غیره همگی ساده، جالب و مفرحند و از همه مهم‌تر حتی مطالبی که چند کتاب آموزشی جامع و حجیم هم در باره آن‌ها خوانده باشید و اکنون درگیر کلاسیک‌ها یا مرزها و پژوهش درباره موضوع مورد نظر کتاب باشید بازهم مطالبی جالبی که قبلا ندیدید یا خوب درگیرشان نشده باشید در این سری ها به چشم می‌خورد، بر خلاف ظاهرشان که باید به نظر کتب آشنایی با موضوع در سطح نوجوانانه باشند. هربار با بی‌حوصلگی یکی از این کتب رو میون خستگی‌ها یا یک جای شلوغ محض صرفا خواندن چیزی شروع می‌کنم و تقریبا هرچه تا الان خوندم [از این سری] بی‌وقفه تموم کردم حتی شده گوشه خیابون یا پارک به خوندنشون ادامه بدم و همیشه پر از شور شدم موقع خوندشون علی‌رغم ظواهر ساده و کتاب که بیشتر شبیه به کمیک‌بوک می‌مونند تا کتابی فنی. اغلب نویسنده‌های این سری‌ها هم افرادی با سواد گسترده یا پژوهشگران تخصصی نسبتا مهم توی حوزه موضوع اثر هستن و این قضیه باز هم علی‌رغم ظاهرشون خیلی قابل اطمینانشون می‌کنه.
در کل غافل نشید از این سری، خیلی هاشون هم ترجمه شدن، خوشخوان و بامزه با مطالبی ظریف هستن.
منطقش هم خیلی جالب بود، یکی از معدود حوزه‌هایی بود که واقعا ایده ‌راجع به شروعش به خصوص توسط افراد کم سن و سال یا به کلی ناآشنا و بی‌مقدمه نداشتم و هربار که کسی براش جالب بود که مطالعه کنه یا از روی کنجکاوی سوال می‌پرسید از بنده بدون اینکه خودم وقت داشته باشم که همراهیش کنم، نمیدونستم چه مرجعی ممکنه باشه که بدون انبوهگی داده‌ها یا ملال‌آور بودن تا حدی افراد رو با کلیات مورد بحث منطق آشنا کنه که بتونن باهاش پیش برن و از اول کار ترمزشون کشیده نشه بابت عدم فهم یا ملال و الان یافتمش.

[Sanjay · Rating 4 out of 5]

An apt overview of history and development of logic covering classical, fuzzy, and quantum logic.

It also explores:
* Syllogisms
* The attempts to found mathematics on logical foundations.
* Proof theory, Godel's theorem
* Philosophy of language (linguistics)
* AI, relativism, cognitive science
* Chomsky's linguistic theories

All in all it was quite informative and enjoyable throughout: perfectly suitable for a layman.

Recommended.

[C. Varn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable crash course through the history of modern logics. It covers the development of prepositional, predicate, fuzzy, and quantum logic as well as the influence of Godel's mathematical theories and Chomsky's linguistic theories on the development of logic. It only hints at modal as well as first- and second-order logic, but for a brief text that covers syllogisms, predicate logic, truth-tables, paradoxes, proof theory, Godel's incompleteness theorem, fuzzy logic, and even more linguistics, it does a good job. It doesn't go into examples very deeply, but the comics often make many of the ideas clearer regardless. It's a useful quick read for an educated layman who is not expecting a deep understanding but wants a fairly serious--but funny--historical overview.

[Owlseyes]

"The next sentence is false. The last sentence is true"

What can one conclude?



(Don't apply it to the world cup)

[Alistair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew! I bought this book half as a joke and half in all seriousness. Not really sure if logic is an extension of maths or a stand-alone subject. Not much of an academic, but I like understanding things, deep or otherwise. Hope this review helps you to decide whether to buy it.

What is Logic? - Page 3
Studying Sentences - Page 4
The Square of Oppositions - Page 5
The Syllogism - Page 6
Connective Logic - Page 8
Leibniz's Law - Page 10
The 'Reductio ad Absurdum'
A "New Organon" - Page 14
Frege's Quantifiers - Page 16
The Context Principle - Page 18
Propositional Calculus - Page 19
Cantor's Set Theory - Page 20
The Usefulness of Connectives - Page 22
The Russell Paradox - Page 23
The Fatal Flaw - Page 24
The Problem of Surface Grammar - Page 25
Russel's System - Page 26
Wittgenstein's Logical Pictures - Page 28
Carnap and the Vienna Circle - Page 30
The Tolerance Principle - Page 31
Hilbert's Proof Theory - Page 32
The Arrival of Gödel - Page 33
Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem - Page 34
The Connections to Proof Theory - Page 35
Wittgenstein's Table of Logical Connectives - Page 37
Wittgenstein's Truth Tables - Page 38
Discovering Tautologies - Page 39
The Logic Gates of Digital Electronics - Page 40
A Vending Machine - Page 41
Turing and the "Enigma Code" - Page 42
Euclid's Axiomatic Method - Page 43
Leibniz's Proof Method - Page 45
Abuse of Contradiction - Page 46
Rules for Connectives - Page 47
Sensitivity to Grammar - Page 48
Predicate Calculus - Page 49
Model Theoretic Semantics - Page 50
Hilbert's Recursion Model - Page 51
Finite Rules for Infinite Production - Page 54
Simple Instructions - Page 55
Proof Theory and Formal Language - Page 56
Tarski's Truth Conditions - Page 58
Formal Semantics in Practice - Page 60
Constructing a Soap Opera - Page 61
Prolog to an AI Soap Opera - Page 62
Turing's recipe for AI - Page 64
The Problem of Paradoxes - Page 66
Can Paradoxes be Avoided - Page 68
Theory of Types - Page 69
Tarski's Solution to the Liar - Page 71
The Unexorcised Paradox - Page 72
Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem - Page 74
The Consequences of Gödel's Theorem - Page 76
The "Halting Problem" - Page 78
The Limit of Gödel's Proof - Page 79
Zeno's Movement Paradox - Page 80
An Infinite Sum - Page 82
A Convergence on Limits - Page 83
How Much is a "Heap"? - Page 84
The Challenge to Sets - Page 85
Undermining Logic - Page 86
The Fiction of Vague Words - Page 87
What Do Words "Mean"? - Page 88
Fuzzy Logic - Page 89
Fuzzy Heaps - Page 90
Can Logic Escape Paradox? - Page 91
Non-Classical Logics: Intuitionism - Page 92
The Devil's Argument - Page 93
Intuitionistic Logic - Page 94
Intuitionism versus the Reductio Method - Page 95
The Intuitionistic Fad - Page 96
Addressing Some Old Problems - Page 97
The Value of Possible - Page 98
Truth Values as Numbers - Page 99
The Possible and Non-Contradiction - Page 100
From Classical to Fuzzy Logic - Page 102
Electronic "Possible" States - Page 103
The Fuzzy Logic Search Engine - Page 104
The Fuzzy Logical Machine - Page 105
Logic in the Quantum World - Page 106
The Distributive Law of Quantum Logic - Page 107
How Quantum Logic Works - Page 108
Logic by Experiment - Page 109
Logic and Science - Page 111
The Copernican Revolution - Page 112
Galileo's Revolution - Page 113
Methods of Deduction and Induction - Page 114
Problems with Induction - Page 116
Hume's Fork - Page 117
Nomological Deduction - Page 118
Induction by Generalization - Page 120
Laws or Empirical Predictions - Page 124
The Raven Paradox - Page 126
A Problem of Cause and Effect - Page 128
Popper's Answer to Hempel - Page 129
Popper's Disconfirmation Theory - Page 130
The Probability of Viable Theory - Page 132
Quine's "Web of Belief" - Page 134
Alterations to the "Web" - Page 136
Insufficient Evidence - Page 138
Quine's Relativism - Page 140
Davidson's Reply to Quine - Page 142
The Presentation of Truth - Page 143
Hard-edged Truth versus Relativism - Page 144
Cognitive Science and Logic - Page 145
Chomsky's Universal Grammar - Page 146
Noun and Verb Categories - Page 148
Recursive Rules of Grammar - Page 151
The X-bar Theory - Page 152
A Logical Theory - Page 153
Problems of Syntax and Semantics - Page 154
Complex Grammatical Structures - Page 156
Problems with "Universal" Grammar - Page 158
The Symbolic Brain Model - Page 160
Training a Neural Net - Page 162
Pattern Recognition - Page 164
The Rational Behaviour Model - Page 166
Practical Reason - Page 167
What is Consciousness? - Page 168
The Place of Logic - Page 169
Wittgenstein's Change of View - Page 170
Further Reading - Page 174-5
Index 176

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun stuff. Follows the history of logic from a Western perspective in a chronological order. Having some knowledge of philosophy and/or computer science will help. I've only dabbled in philosophical logic, but my experience in computer programming/logic made it easier for me to understand the concepts once I looked up logic symbols and philosophy terms that were unfamiliar to me. Something to keep in mind. Or just dive into it and look up things as you go. Either way, it's an entertaining, lighthearted crash course.

Also, the book is already outdated. Published in 2004, claiming that electrons have never been directly observed is almost not true as of 2013, where the orbits of atomic structures have been directly observed with quantum microscopes.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book in the series. Just terrific.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good general introduction. It does explain complex ideas quite well. The problem is that the cartoons aren't as clever as they think.

[Castles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can’t say I understood very much, especially when logic and mathematics are so close and written text can only get you that far with those concepts.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

super simple intro...

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie - I didn't really understand a lot of this. But I tried! You can see how long it took me to finish it. I initially got stuck after a few pages because I was trying to assimilate a theory which was probably superseded centuries ago, and maybe was over-simplified or badly explained, which is probably an unavoidable problem with a book like this that aims to summarise a huge subject in a small format. So eventually I just decided to plough on through and see what I could glean. You can get a smattering of many ideas of logic and how it touches on science, computing and linguistics etc so a pretty good book for the lay reader. One last complaint - what's with the pipe-smoking swans? Did I miss that part?

[Eric Pecile · Rating 2 out of 5]

As far as the Introducing series is concerned, this book is a bit of a disappointment. It provides a general overview of Aristotelian streams of logical thought but completely ignores those of Plato which are necessary to understand current intellectual theories. As someone already versed in much of the content, I found the explanations superficial and of little use to someone needing an actual guide on the subject.

[Mohamed Adwi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had this idea that any talk about logic would be in very objective form as logic in its essence is an abstract science. conversely, it was the opposite in this book. The narration was more subjective and logicians-centric without putting logic in its historical or philosophical context. So, the thing I got from this book was random ideas and random information about various things can be related to logic.

[Gabz · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the text in itself is well put together and straightforward enough for the newcomer to the field, I found the illustrations to be a point of great frustration on the Kindle version. They were always too small to read and impossible to magnify, which meant that I always had to ignore them. This, therefore, meant that I lost out on one of the main selling points of the series.

[Pumpkinpi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a lot more lighthearted than most other books, but it isn't humorous at all, so the cartoons function as diagrams instead of attention grabbers. It is very well thought out, though, and still manages to keep the reader entertained. Altogether a very good book.

[Devashish Sharma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as expected. Talks about a lot of things but fails to create interest.
Skip unless already bought.
Happy reading.

[Daniela Rojas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vi este ejemplar cuando andaba por la biblioteca. Me pareció interesante ver lo que, a primera vista, pensé era otra novela gráfica cuyo tema fuera la lógica; algo parecido a Logicómix. Pero en realidad este es más bien un libro ilustrado, que “explica” la evolución de los conceptos en lógica, desde Aristóteles hasta la lógica borrosa y la gramática de Chomsky. Sin embargo, muchas veces la intención de explicar se queda a medio camino, pues el lector tiene que releer los pasajes una y otra vez.

La primera parte del libro se ocupa de la lógica clásica: silogismos, lógica de predicados, formalización del lenguaje natural. La segunda explica las paradojas más famosas de la lógica: sorites, paradojas de Zenón; y si bien no son paradojas, aquí también tienen lugar los problemas que el trabajo de Gõdel supone para la lógica tradicional. En la tercera parte se presenta la lógica moderna, la lógica borrosa, en la que se aceptan más de dos valores de verdad. Enseguida, las discusiones acerca de los sistemas de deductivos e inductivos en la ciencia. Por último, un pequeñísimo apartado acerca de la razón práctica.

Creo que mi mayor problema con este libro es que hay un descuido en el aspecto estético. Unas veces las imágenes son muy pequeñas en comparación con la cantidad y el tamaño del texto; otras, las imágenes ocupan casi toda la hoja y el texto está apiñado en un lado de la página. Esto se conecta con el otro problema: las explicaciones a veces son demasiado densas para el formato que el libro maneja. No hay un equilibrio entre la ilustración y el texto. Concedo que muchas veces los postulados son complejos, pero creo que esto se podría hacer más solventar con una mejor distribución de los contenidos en el espacio.

[Ege · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kötü çeviri....

[Alexandru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief, but informative.

[Bill Goethals · Rating 4 out of 5]

It does what it says - presents an introduction to the ideas of logic. I like the book but it feels disjointed going through each concept in sequence at a superficial level - almost list like. Without the depth to get detailed it’s hard to link the ideas together, but the pictures are fun and it’s a quick read.

[Mike Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Often hard to follow due to layout

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fine overview of the ideas of logic from the syllogisms and paradoxes of Ancient Greece to the influence of Karl Popper and others in refining the scientific method. The explanations are clear and it covers a reasonable swath of the subject.

[Lukas Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid, bird's eye view of the history of philosophy and logic.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mit "Logik" haben sich die Macher der Sachcomic-Reihe auf ein Terrain gewagt, das glatter nur schwer sein könnte. Nicht zuletzt deshalb, weil es in dieser Disziplin stark auf die sprachliche Verarbeitung, auf die Qualität ankommt.

Wie auch alle anderen Teile dieser Reihe ist es ein tolles Übersichtswerk mit teilweise sehr unterhaltsamen Comic-Strips. Das diese nicht nur komödiantischen, sondern eben auch bildenden Wert haben, kann als eine der zentralen Stärken des "Comics" verstanden werden.

Ich habe die Lektüre sehr genossen, wenn sich auch kleine Fehler eingeschlichen haben (so werden, auf Grund schleißiger Übersetzung, aus Österreichern Australier gemacht oder Logik-Tafeln mit falschen Ergebnissen angereichert obwohl die nebenstehende Erläuterung richtig ist). Wären diese nicht, so würde ich bestimmt zu 4 oder 5 Sternen greifen; so bleiben's leider nur 3.

[David Burns · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is a lot of good in this book, however, I could not find it. I cannot say that others might feel the same, but it became a tediousness experience to try and see where this author was taking me. Also, it is terrible on my Kindle since the cartoon examples of "brilliance" occur nearly every other page. They are far too tiny to read, making the experience more frustrating than necessary. I cannot recommend this book, but neither can I tell you not to give it a try if this is your field of interest. I would strongly recommend a hard back version so that the cartoons can be understood.

[Vicki Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took an introductory course in logic in college, part of my BA in math. I enjoyed it a lot, but pretty much all I can remember is syllogisms and truth tables. This book, even though claiming to be an introduction, goes much farther than I remember my class going. Many philosophers, mathematicians and scientists are covered, with drawn portraits of them all. It was really very interesting, even if some of it was over my head.

[Alejandro Núñez baladrón · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read on ebook. Quite some spelling mistakes, some incomplete sentences, some balloons too small to read. Also it rushes over a too wide range of topics (classical logic, non-classical, linguistics, consciousness...) making it a confusing and very obscure reading at some points. It works pretty well to increase your curiosity in a topic. Think this description can be applied to most other books in the collection (though others don’t have so many formal flaws)

[Angela Armold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to follow, but good launch pad

I'm not sure how much of this book I have understood. There were lots of places it was assumed that I knew certain vocab and references, and I was struggling to grasp a simple sentence. But it certainly gave plenty of into for further study and research.

[Ali Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would very much want to read more of its kind. These graphic guides can be a good companion on short journeys. I became aware of the study of logic through philosophy books and discussion at university. But this is what I can say is the interesting comprehension of Logic as a field of study which established almost entire western philosophy.