Communications of the ACM
Basic Logic Research Crucial For Computer, Software Engineering
A Turing machine built from Legos.
Credit: Projet Rubens, ENS Lyon
All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal. Logical arguments like this one have been studied since antiquity. In the last few decades, however, logic research has changed considerably: the computer sciences were born. The success of informatics would have been impossible without the groundwork provided by logicians — and, in turn, computer sciences keep posing new interesting questions, which can only be answered by formal logic. Informatics is not the modern-day successor of logic, both fields keep moving forward, hand in hand.
Calculating Logical Statements
Simple logical conclusions, such as the famous syllogism about Socrates’ mortality appear clear and simple to us. But logic is not just about formalizing the obvious. Just like in mathematics, logic allows us to construct arbitrarily complex equations, to do sophisticated calculations, to analyze the world.
From Scientific Computing
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