Introduction to Metamathematics

Kleene's textbook is one of the fundamental texts of mathematical logic. It is easy to see why it is (supposedly) the most cited book in the mathematical logic literature. It is a model of clear explanation, and it does a better job of motivating the subject than any other textbook I have read (I mean deep intellectual and historical motivation of the subject, not the kind of motivation found in introductory logic books about what deduction is, and why learning logic is a good thing to do). Ishi press are to be thanked for making it readily available again at a low price. This edition however is a little on the cheaply made side; this edition was scanned from an older edition, and there are faint copy lines on most pages, so it looks like a photocopy. The pages are glued to the spine, and the binding is not flexible and does not appear all that durable. This means this edition is probably not ideal for serious study as the book will not lay out flat, and forcing it to do so may crack the spine. Nevertheless, if you are interested in mathematical logic this is a must read, and this edition makes it much easier to do so.