First-order Logic

Born in New York City in 1919, Raymond Smullyan is a philosopher and magician as well as a famous mathematician and logician. His career as a stage magician financed his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago as well his doctoral work at Princeton. The author of several imaginative books on recreational mathematics, Smullyan is also a classical pianist. Raymond Smullyan: The Merry Prankster Raymond Smullyan (1919– ), mathematician, logician, magician, creator of extraordinary puzzles, philosopher, pianist, and man of many parts. The first Dover book by Raymond Smullyan was First-Order Logic (1995). Recent years have brought a number of his magical books of logic and math puzzles: The Lady or the Tiger (2009); Satan, Cantor and Infinity (2009); an original, never-before-published collection, King Arthur in Search of His Dog and Other Curious Puzzles (2010); and Set Theory and the Continuum Problem (with Melvin Fitting, also reprinted by Dover in 2010). More will be coming in subsequent years. In the Author's Own Words: "Recently, someone asked me if I believed in astrology. He seemed somewhat puzzled when I explained that the reason I don't is that I'm a Gemini." "Some people are always critical of vague statements. I tend rather to be critical of precise statements: they are the only ones which can correctly be labeled 'wrong.'" — Raymond Smullyan Critical Acclaim for The Lady or the Tiger: "Another scintillating collection of brilliant problems and paradoxes by the most entertaining logician and set theorist who ever lived." — Martin Gardner