This introduction to mathematical logic takes Gödel's incompleteness theorem as a starting point. It goes beyond a standard text book and should interest everyone from mathematicians to philosophers and general readers who wish to understand the foundations and limitations of modern mathematics.

For Gödel’s theorems there are truths that escape axiomatic systems. This phenomenon in mathematical logic is called incompleteness. This book deals precisely with mathematical truths that axiomatic systems fail to capture. In the first chapters the incompleteness of Peano’s arithmetic is addressed, Gödel’s sentences cannot be captured by the principles of Peano’s arithmetic. Thus in this book it is possible to see how Gödel was able to construct an arithmetic sentence that says about itself: I am unprovable. In addition to Gödel’s sentences, there are other truths such as Goodstein’s theorem and the finite extension of Ramsey’s theorem which Peano’s axioms fail to prove. In the second part of the book we will see that in modern set theory there is a sentence, namely the Continuum Hypothesis, that Zermelo-Fraenkel axiomatic system fails to prove. For a result of Gödel (1938) and a result of Cohen (1963) the Continuum Hypothesis is independent of the axioms of Zermelo-Fraenkel. These axioms fail to prove the Continuum Hypothesis. In the last part of the book we will see the attempt of Hugh Woodin to prove the Continuum Hypothesis that is called Woodin’s program.

Incompleteness is a fascinating phenomenon at the intersection of mathematical foundations, computer science, and epistemology that places a limit on what is provable. However, despite its importance, it is often overlooked in the mathematics curricula because it is difficult to teach. This book aims to help bridge this pedagogical gap by providing a complete and accessible technical exposition of incompleteness for a wide audience. The author accomplishes this by making conceptually difficult proofs more approachable by providing intuitive explanations of the main ideas. Care is taken to emphasize the different layers of the mathematical argument – the layer within and the metalayer about an axiomatic system. Structurally, the book efficiently examines key results and arrives at some of the most interesting concepts as quickly as possible. It begins with Gödel's incompleteness theorems before continuing on to challenging concepts in the arithmetized completeness theorem, the Paris-Harrington theorem, and the independence of the continuum hypothesis. Other topics covered include the Lucas-Penrose arguments, ordinals and cardinals, and axiomatic set theory. Additionally, the author’s coverage of forcing is a notable addition to the existing literature. Introduction to Incompleteness will be of interest to researchers, students, and instructors looking for a resource to teach this topic. It may also be suitable for self-study. Knowledge of undergraduate-level theoretical mathematics or computer science is required, as well as a familiarity with abstract proofs.

Kurt Gödel (1906-1978) was an Austrian-American mathematician, who is best known for his incompleteness theorems. He was the greatest mathematical logician of the 20th century, with his contributions extending to Einstein’s general relativity, as he proved that Einstein’s theory allows for time machines. The Gödel incompleteness theorem - the usual formal mathematical systems cannot prove nor disprove all true mathematical sentences - is frequently presented in textbooks as something that happens in the rarefied realms of mathematical logic, and that has nothing to do with the real world. Practice shows the contrary though; one can demonstrate the validity of the phenomenon in various areas, ranging from chaos theory and physics to economics and even ecology. In this lively treatise, based on Chaitin’s groundbreaking work and on the da Costa-Doria results in physics, ecology, economics and computer science, the authors show that the Gödel incompleteness phenomenon can directly bear on the practice of science and perhaps on our everyday life. This accessible book gives a new, detailed and elementary explanation of the Gödel incompleteness theorems and presents the Chaitin results and their relation to the da Costa-Doria results, which are given in full, but with no technicalities. Besides theory, the historical report and personal stories about the main character and on this book’s writing process, make it appealing leisure reading for those interested in mathematics, logic, physics, philosophy and computer sciences. See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REy9noY5Sg8

This book contains the proceedings of the Seventh National Conference of the Italian Systems Society. The title, Systemics of Incompleteness and Quasi-Systems, aims to underline the need for Systemics and Systems Science to deal with the concepts of incompleteness and quasiness. Classical models of Systemics are intended to represent comprehensive aspects of phenomena and processes. They consider the phenomena in their temporal and spatial completeness. In these cases, possible incompleteness in the modelling is assumed to have a provisional or practical nature, which is still under study, and because there is no theoretical reason why the modelling cannot be complete. In principle, this is a matter of non-complex phenomena, to be considered using the concepts of the First Systemics. When dealing with emergence, there are phenomena which must be modelled by systems having multiple models, depending on the aspects being taken into consideration. Here, incompleteness in the modelling is intrinsic, theoretically relating changes in properties, structures, and status of system. Rather than consider the same system parametrically changing over time, we consider sequences of systems coherently. We consider contexts and processes for which modelling is incomplete, being related to only some properties, as well as those for which such modelling is theoretically incomplete—as in the case of processes of emergence and for approaches considered by the Second Systemics. In this regard, we consider here the generic concept of quasi explicating such incompleteness. The concept of quasi is used in various disciplines including quasi-crystals, quasi-particles, quasi-electric fields, and quasi-periodicity. In general, the concept of quasiness for systems concerns their continuous structural changes which are always meta-stable, waiting for events to collapse over other configurations and possible forms of stability; whose equivalence depends on the type of phenomenon under study. Interest in the concept of quasiness is not related to its meaning of rough approximation, but because it indicates an incompleteness which is structurally sufficient to accommodate processes of emergence and sustain coherence or generate new, equivalent or non-equivalent, levels. The conference was devoted to identifying, discussing and understanding possible interrelationships of theoretical disciplinary improvements, recognised as having prospective fundamental roles for a new Quasi-Systemics. The latter should be able to deal with problems related to complexity in more general and realistic ways, when a system is not always a system and not always the same system. In this context, the inter-disciplinarity should consist, for instance, of a constructionist, incomplete, non-ideological, multiple, contradiction-tolerant, Systemics, always in progress, and in its turn, emergent.

Current mathematical models are notoriously unreliable in describing the time evolution of unexpected social phenomena, from financial crashes to revolution. Can such events be forecast? Can we compute probabilities about them? Can we model them? This book investigates and attempts to answer these questions through Gödel's two incompleteness theorems, and in doing so demonstrates how influential Gödel is in modern logical and mathematical thinking. Many mathematical models are applied to economics and social theory, while Gödel's theorems are able to predict their limitations for more accurate analysis and understanding of national and international events.This unique discussion is written for graduate level mathematicians applying their research to the social sciences, including economics, social studies and philosophy, and also for formal logicians and philosophers of science.

"An introduction to the life and thought of Kurt Gödel, who transformed our conception of math forever"--Provided by publisher.