What can computers do in principle? What are their inherent theoretical limitations? The theoretical framework which enables such questions to be answered has been developed over the last fifty years from the idea of a computable function - a function whose values can be calculated in an automatic way.

This volume, which ten years ago appeared as the first in the acclaimed series Lecture Notes in Logic, serves as an introduction to recursion theory. The fundamental concept of recursion makes the idea of computability accessible to a mathematical analysis, thus forming one of the pillars on which modern computer science rests. The clarity and focus of this text have established it as a classic instrument for teaching and self-study that prepares its readers for the study of advanced monographs and the current literature on recursion theory.

"Integrates two classical approaches to computability. Offers detailed coverage of recent research at the interface of logic, computability theory, nd theoretical computer science. Presents new, never-before-published results and provides informtion not easily accessible in the literature."

This volume, which ten years ago appeared as the first in the acclaimed series Lecture Notes in Logic, serves as an introduction to recursion theory. The fundamental concept of recursion makes the idea of computability accessible to a mathematical analysis, thus forming one of the pillars on which modern computer science rests. The clarity and focus of this text have established it as a classic instrument for teaching and self-study that prepares its readers for the study of advanced monographs and the current literature on recursion theory.

..."The book, written by one of the main researchers on the field, gives a complete account of the theory of r.e. degrees. .... The definitions, results and proofs are always clearly motivated and explained before the formal presentation; the proofs are described with remarkable clarity and conciseness. The book is highly recommended to everyone interested in logic. It also provides a useful background to computer scientists, in particular to theoretical computer scientists." Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum, Ungarn 1988 ..."The main purpose of this book is to introduce the reader to the main results and to the intricacies of the current theory for the recurseively enumerable sets and degrees. The author has managed to give a coherent exposition of a rather complex and messy area of logic, and with this book degree-theory is far more accessible to students and logicians in other fields than it used to be." Zentralblatt für Mathematik, 623.1988