Publication planned for: March 2019
isbn: 9781107152502
Hardback
Quine's set theory, New Foundations, has often been treated as an anomaly in the history and philosophy of set theory. In this book, Sean Morris shows that it is in fact well-motivated, emerging in a natural way from the early development of set theory. Morris introduces and explores the notion of set theory as explication: the view that there is no single correct axiomatization of set theory, but rather that the various axiomatizations all serve to explicate the notion of set and are judged largely according to pragmatic criteria. Morris also brings out the important interplay between New Foundations, Quine's philosophy of set theory, and his philosophy more generally. We see that his early technical work in logic foreshadows his later famed naturalism, with his philosophy of set theory playing a crucial role in his primary philosophical project of clarifying our conceptual scheme and specifically its logical and mathematical components.
Advance praise: 'Sean Morris's book fills a heretofore gaping hole in our understanding of the origins and history of set theory, explaining how Quine's New Foundations is not the isolated, idiosyncratic system it is sometimes taken to be, but is instead deeply connected - historically, philosophically, and mathematically - to other, now more mainstream, accounts of the nature of sets.' Roy T. Cook, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Part of Lecture Notes in Logic
Publication planned for: December 2018
format: Hardback
isbn: 9781108415583
This book presents and applies a framework for studying the complexity of algorithms. It is aimed at logicians, computer scientists, mathematicians and philosophers interested in the theory of computation and its foundations, and it is written at a level suitable for non-specialists. Part I provides an accessible introduction to abstract recursion theory and its connection with computability and complexity. This part is suitable for use as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course: all the necessary elementary facts from logic, recursion theory, arithmetic and algebra are included. Part II develops and applies an extension of the homomorphism method due jointly to the author and Lou van den Dries for deriving lower complexity bounds for problems in number theory and algebra which (provably or plausibly) restrict all elementary algorithms from specified primitives. The book includes over 250 problems, from simple checks of the reader's understanding, to current open problems.
Publication planned for: January 2019
format: Paperback
isbn: 9781107434905
Interest in the metaphysics and logic of possible worlds goes back at least as far as Aristotle, but few books address the history of these important concepts. This volume offers new essays on the theories about the logical modalities (necessity and possibility) held by leading philosophers from Aristotle in ancient Greece to Rudolf Carnap in the twentieth century. The story begins with an illuminating discussion of Aristotle's views on the connection between logic and metaphysics, continues through the Stoic and mediaeval (including Arabic) traditions, and then moves to the early modern period with particular attention to Locke and Leibniz. The views of Kant, Peirce, C. I. Lewis and Carnap complete the volume. Many of the essays illuminate the connection between the historical figures studied, and recent or current work in the philosophy of modality. The result is a rich and wide-ranging picture of the history of the logical modalities.
Part of Cambridge Mathematical Textbooks
Publication planned for: April 2019
format: Hardback
isbn: 9781107164079
Abstract Algebra with Applications provides a friendly and concise introduction to algebra, with an emphasis on its uses in the modern world. The first part of this book covers groups, after some preliminaries on sets, functions, relations, and induction, and features applications such as public-key cryptography, Sudoku, the finite Fourier transform, and symmetry in chemistry and physics. The second part of this book covers rings and fields, and features applications such as random number generators, error correcting codes, the Google page rank algorithm, communication networks, and elliptic curve cryptography. The book's masterful use of colorful figures and images helps illustrate the applications and concepts in the text. Real-world examples and exercises will help students contextualize the information. Meant for a year-long undergraduate course in algebra for mathematics, engineering, and computer science majors, the only prerequisites are calculus and a bit of courage when asked to do a short proof.
Includes interesting computational examples where students can use their preferred software, including Mathematica, Scientific Workplace and Group Explorer
Connects theory with practice by featuring plenty of examples and applications
Emphasizes finite fields and rings and the ways in which the finite mirrors the infinite, making the subject accessible to students
Part of Cambridge Monographs on Applied and Computational Mathematics
Publication planned for: May 2019
format: Hardback
isbn: 9781108499675
This book combines a comprehensive state-of-the-art analysis of bifurcations of discrete-time dynamical systems with concrete instruction on implementations (and example applications) in the free MATLABR software MatContM developed by the authors. While self-contained and suitable for independent study, the book is also written with users in mind and is an invaluable reference for practitioners. Part I focuses on theory, providing a systematic presentation of bifurcations of fixed points and cycles of finite-dimensional maps, up to and including cases with two control parameters. Several complementary methods, including Lyapunov exponents, invariant manifolds and homoclinic structures, and parts of chaos theory, are presented. Part II introduces MatContM through step-by-step tutorials on how to use the general numerical methods described in Part I for simple dynamical models defined by one- and two-dimensional maps. Further examples in Part III show how MatContM can be used to analyze more complicated models from modern engineering, ecology, and economics.
Provides state-of-the-art analysis of bifurcations of discrete-time dynamical systems
Theory is connected with practical applications, as well as step-by-step tutorials on how to analyze particular bifurcations using the free MATLABR software MatContM
This book is an ideal reference volume for professionals searching for results for a particular bifurcation