Professor Glass

Logic 101

13^th December 2006

                      Dead Mathematicians Hall of Fame Awards Acceptance Speech

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you at the Dead Mathematicians Hall of fame for this great honor bestowed upon my deceased uncle. It gives me great pride to accept this accolade in honor of the great Mr. George Boole. From his birthplace in Lincolnshire, England in 1815, George was destined for greatness. Though at first sight it may not have seemed that way. After all, his family wasn’t particularly entitled or wealthy. In fact, though his father spent many of his days thinking scientifically and mathematically, his occupation was one of a shoe maker. However Father John Boole gave his son all of his knowledge of math, and soon George grew to love it too. In his early years, George’s first love was actually language. His father sent him to learn Latin, German and French. The Boole family went through financial hardship when George was 16, so George began working as an assistant teacher. He actually began learning mathematics on his own, outside of his father’s teachings. His very first math book was Lacroix’s Differential and integral calculus. Though I’m sure he taught himself very well, he soon realized that it would be best to receive lessons outside of his father and on his own. He decided to relocate to Liverpool where he acquired a teaching position that allowed him to study mathematics in depth with other professors. The ambition of this teenage man had no end! At the age of 19 he moved to Lincoln and opened his own school, in addition the primary operator of Hall’s Academy (Robert Hall) in Waddington, asked him to take over the school in his passing. Which he also did. As years passed, He began publishing regularly in the Cambridge Mathematical Journal with his main focus on algebra. He corresponded with another Hall of Famer by the name of De Morgan. In fact, De Morgan was influenced by George on many of his publications. In 1842 George wrote a paper On a general method of analysis applying algebraic methods to the solution of differential equations he sent it to De Morgan for comments. Speaking of fame, George’s work began to receive recognition in 1844 when he received the Royal Society’s Royal medal for his work in the Transactions of the Royal Society. In 1854 he published An investigation into the Laws of Thought, on Which are founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities. Quite possibly what he is most famous for. His approach was using logic with simple algebra, integrating logic into mathematics. By showing correlations between logical forms and algebraic symbols he bridged a gap that allowed this form of mathematics to expand and increase in plasticity. Boolean Algebra is used today for various computer applications, search engines and has many other technical applications. Information from kerryr.net confirms what we already know; Today, all our computers use Boole’s logic system – using microchips that contain thousands of tiny electronic switches arranged into logical ‘gates’ that produce predictable and reliable conclusions. The basic logic gates are AND, OR and NOT. It is these gates, used in different combinations, that allow the computer to execute its operations using binary language. Each gate assesses information (consisting of high or low voltages) in accordance with predetermined rules, and produces a single high or low voltage logical conclusion. He created a system that is widely used and taught today. It is math for the ages and hasn’t slowed his recognition since. The voltage itself represents the binary yes-no, true-false, one-zero concept. Boole also worked on differential equations, the influential Treatise on Differential Equations appeared in 1859, the calculus of finite differences, Treatise on the Calculus of Finite Differences (1860), and general methods in probability. As well as both on logical and mathematical topics, found in the Catalogue of Scientific Memoirs published by the Royal Society, and in the supplementary volume on Differential Equations. Add the Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal, and the third and fourth series of the Philosophical Magazine to his credits and many many more. Once again ladies and gentlemen, I am truly thankful to receive this message; my first accolade in his honor, which I am sure will not be his last.

Works Cited:

Kerry Redshaw. Pioneers: George Boole. ©Copyright 1996. 13^th December 2006. KerryR. www.kerryr.net/index.htm

Wikipedia contributors. George Boole, 9^th December 2006. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia ©. 13^th December 2006. www.wikipedia.com

Eileen Harrison. George Boole: Mathematician and Philosopher. 1993. Roger Parson’s Lincolnshire World. 13^th December 2006. http://homepages.enterprise.net/rogerp/george/boole.html

Research:

Web Search Results for “Boole”All Search Engines 1 – 20 of 67 George Boole (1815 – 1864)The original Working Class Boy Made Good, Boole was born in the wrong time, in the wrong place, and definitely in the wrong class – he didn’t have a hope of …www.kerryr.net/pioneers/boole.htm [Found on Google, MSN Search, Yahoo! Search, Ask.com]

George Boole – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaGeorge Boole’s father was a tradesman of limited means, but of studious … A long list of Boole’s memoirs and detached papers, both on logical and …en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Boole [Found on Google, MSN Search, Ask.com]

Roger p@rsons_world of George BooleBeekeeping, Comets, and Famous Lincolnshire scientists, explorers, mathematicians and philosophers.homepages.enterprise.net/rogerp/george/boole.html [Found on Google, Yahoo! Search, Ask.com]

How many results were returned by putting in the words death and penalty (7092) and then searching for “death penalty”? (6554)
Looking at a few of the results, where do the words death and penalty appear? They do not appear in the title, but in the text adjacent.
What would you do if you wanted the exact phrase death penalty to appear? I would put the phrase in Quotation marks. “Death Penalty”

If d = death, p = penalty s = the phrase death penalty, c = the phrase capital punishment and n the phrase New York State. Form for your database and document the results for
d /\ p: Death and Penalty (7092 hits)
d \/ p: Death or Penalty (150,101 hits)
s:         ”Death Penalty” (6554 hits)
s /\ n: “Death Penalty” and ”New York State” (260 hits)
s/\~n:”Death Penalty” and not “New York State” (5895 hits)
s \/ c: “Death Penalty” or “Capital Punishment” (7225 hits)
s /\ c: “Death Penalty” and “Capital Punishment” (731 hits)

Write up the rules (using the help screen) for using and, or, not and creating a phrase (exact phrase) in the database assigned to your group.

Focusing your Search by Using Boolean Operators

You can use special terms, called Boolean operators, to build searches that combine and exclude the words and phrases that make up your search.

Examples
Use OR to find documents that contain any one of several search terms:

Internet OR education finds documents mentioning the Internet, as well as documents mentioning education, or both.

Use AND to find documents containing two or more search terms:

Internet AND education finds documents mentioning the Internet and education.

Use AND NOT to exclude a search term:

Internet AND NOT education finds documents regarding the Internet, removing those documents mentioning education.

Using Phrases to Refine Your Search

If you’re searching for a specific phrase, place your phrase in quotation marks (” “). This lets ProQuest know you’re looking for documents where the words appear exactly in order.

Example
If you’re searching for information on animal hospitals, type the following:

“small animal hospital”

The following similar search yields very different results:

small animal AND hospital

The second search finds any document in which both “small animal” and “hospital” appear within 250-words of one another. These results could include documents about the use of dogs and cats in hospitals for therapy.

The first search find records where the words “small animal hospital” occur in that order, not separated by other words. Therefore, the results of the first search are likely to include only documents dealing with veterinary care.

If your phrase is only two words long, ProQuest will automatically treat it as a phrase (as if it were in quotation marks). If your phrase is three words or longer, you must use quotation marks. Otherwise, ProQuest will treat the phrase as if the words were joined by AND, for example “small AND animal AND hospital.”

As the individual assignment (the group should decide who does a and who does b), re-do the previous part for:
Where d = Baseball, p = players, s = baseball players, c = drug abuse and n = steroid use.
d /\ p: Baseball and Players (15502 hits)
d \/ p: Baseball or Players (2000086 hits)
s:         ”Baseball Players” (4640 hits)
s /\ n: “Baseball Players” and “Steroid Use” (2 hits)
s/\~n: “Baseball Players” and not “Steroid Use” (4631 hits)
s \/ c:   “Baseball Players” or “Drug Abuse” (9122 hits)
s /\ c:   “Baseball Players” and “Drug Abuse” (5 hits)

Where d = global, p = warming, s = global warming, c = air pollution, and n = green house effect.

d /\ p: Global and Warming (1653 hits)
d \/ p: Global or Warming (22060 hits)
s:         ”Global Warming” (1627 hits)
s /\ n: “Global Warming” and “Greenhouse Effect” (81 hits)
s/\~n: “Global Warming” and not “Greenhouse Effect” (1482 hits)
s \/ c: “Global Warming” or “Air Pollution” (3216 hits)
s /\ c: “Global Warming” and “Air Pollution” (33 hits)