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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book is not easy to review. Of all the many comments made by others whether derogatory or favourable one impression does come to mind: and that is, this work `appears' to have remarkable potential. Throughout, Spencer-Brown lets the reader know how powerful his ideas are. Even if this seems a little egotistical and exagerated, given the actual results achieved in the book, the basis of the idea i.e. the human habit of making a distinction so the "world" can come into "existence" seems to have the potential to truly describe not only human perception but maybe the physical and conscious world as it stands. Consciousness is a natural part of the construction since the observer is in fact created by the fact he can draw a distinction between himself and the world. Similarly, physical attributes are describable since interaction and causation are fundamental aspects of the universe which the non-numerical mathematics of distinction can create through the fact that making distinctions twice means not making one and so in fact representing, quite by the way, the idea of wholeness; something which was pointed out by Henri Bortoft in his superb "The Wholeness of Nature". For an attempt at a fuller development of Spencer-Brown's ideas see Edward R. Close and his "Transcendental Physics" where the concepts of dimension and time are constructed from such a mathematics.
Whether this is the be all and end all seems unlikely but its further development may outline some wonderful insights of the world. Definitely worth further investigation and not "content free" as some reviewers have stated.
As for the writing style, that leaves something to be desired, Spencer-Brown writes in an obscure way and does not define all his terms along the way including his method of using certain terms to describe various aspects which have very different usages in related mathematics. It is understandable how, because of this obfuscation, his book has been panned by some. It must be remembered that even Bertrand Russell thought it worthwhile, certainly not an empty boast.
Whether this is the be all and end all seems unlikely but its further development may outline some wonderful insights of the world. Definitely worth further investigation and not "content free" as some reviewers have stated.
As for the writing style, that leaves something to be desired, Spencer-Brown writes in an obscure way and does not define all his terms along the way including his method of using certain terms to describe various aspects which have very different usages in related mathematics. It is understandable how, because of this obfuscation, his book has been panned by some. It must be remembered that even Bertrand Russell thought it worthwhile, certainly not an empty boast.
Format:Perfect Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first read "Laws of form" whilst at Aston University in 1970. Few books have literally taken my breath away but this one did. Rereading it now forty years on I find its elegance and power in no way diminished. The addition of the Rieman's hypothesis proof adds to the power of the book. Anyone should read it, everyone should read it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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13 reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
An outstanding intro to logic without Quantifiers
9 Oct 2001
Format:Paperback
This book is indeed not much more than a very elegant re-exposition of Boolean algebra and the propositional calculus.
Furthermore, the essence of Brown's mathematical innovations were discovered by C S Peirce as early as 1885 (but published only after LoF was published). Nevertheless, LoF is no mean feat.
It radically simplifies sentential logic, switching circuit calculations, syllogisms. I use this book to solve logic problems arising in the computer programs I write.
Furthermore, the essence of Brown's mathematical innovations were discovered by C S Peirce as early as 1885 (but published only after LoF was published). Nevertheless, LoF is no mean feat.
It radically simplifies sentential logic, switching circuit calculations, syllogisms. I use this book to solve logic problems arising in the computer programs I write.
Outside of electrical engineering, only a few mathematicians and logicians work with logic and Boolean algebra, which should be as commonly known as calculus and linear algebra.
I purchased this book in 1974, and have read many times since. EMail me at econ159@it.canterbury.ac.nz if you want a copy of my academic paper explaining the value of Spencer Brown's achievement.
31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Laws of Form ( huh? )
23 Jan 2003
Format:Paperback
In a way, George Spencer-Brown's "Laws of Form" is an elaborate math puzzle. The author has given you the bare minimum of information to figure out what the heck he is talking about; your assignment ( should you choose to accept it ) is to investigate the fields of logic, symbolic logic, Boolean logic, and set theory, to attempt to reconstruct the mathematics behind the so-called Calculus of Indications presented in the book. In my own case, it took almost seven years of occasional attention to come up with the essential idea behind the math, namely the symmetry between AND-spaces and OR-spaces. It may not take you that long.
Contrary to what some other reviewers have written, Bertrand Russell did not praise this book--he seems to have been just as baffled by it as anyone else. He did praise the ideas presented in the book, but only after Spencer-Brown met with him and explained it to him.
It seems likely that the sections of the book were developed as lecture notes to be handed out in class. Presumably the professor would tell you what he was talking about, and the handouts would be supplemental reading. Unfortunately, all that we get in the book is the supplemental reading.
When you are looking for a tool, you don't want, or need, a math puzzle. This is why the notation and concepts presented in the book have never caught on with philosophers, mathematicians and engineers in spite of their clear superiority over the techniques of syllogism logic, symbolic logic, Boolean logic and set theory.
I have had a lot of fun with this book, but you shouldn't think you're going to get a lot out of it in your first reading.
...
Contrary to what some other reviewers have written, Bertrand Russell did not praise this book--he seems to have been just as baffled by it as anyone else. He did praise the ideas presented in the book, but only after Spencer-Brown met with him and explained it to him.
It seems likely that the sections of the book were developed as lecture notes to be handed out in class. Presumably the professor would tell you what he was talking about, and the handouts would be supplemental reading. Unfortunately, all that we get in the book is the supplemental reading.
When you are looking for a tool, you don't want, or need, a math puzzle. This is why the notation and concepts presented in the book have never caught on with philosophers, mathematicians and engineers in spite of their clear superiority over the techniques of syllogism logic, symbolic logic, Boolean logic and set theory.
I have had a lot of fun with this book, but you shouldn't think you're going to get a lot out of it in your first reading.
...
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
A cheaper edition, please, please!!
17 Sep 2000
Format:Paperback
This book is indeed mainly a new (but better) notation for Boolean algebra, a review of how Boolean algebra can be used to represent formal logic, all with New Age trappings derived from Wittgenstein, R D Laing, and from dubious etymology. To top it all off, Spencer Brown's claim that his formalism would be needed to prove the Four Color Theorem and Fermat's Last Theorem has been emphatically falsified.
Nevertheless, this is an astounding book. Boolean algebra is the formalism upon which all of information technology rests. Formal logic deserves a far greater place in educational practice than has been the case in recent decades. A number of Brown's more basic ideas should be incorporated into the junior high curriculum. Finally, some of Brown's advanced ideas such as the imaginary truth value, that memory precedes time, and so forth, deserve more academic attention than they have gotten to date. I emphatically believe that there is a lot here from which the professional mathematician and logician could benefit.
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