2008-11-17 Mr Spock would like this

I have always had a fairly logical mind having studied subjects such as mathematics, physics and accounting to a high level and I have always enjoyed doing crossword puzzles and other puzzles including IQ tests.

Some people can obviously think logically more easily than others since computer firms used to (and maybe still do) give one a sort of IQ test to see if one can learn to programme a computer.

Logic is also something that can be studied and it is treated like a science. It is a branch of philosophy and until the nineteenth century there hadn't been many advances on Aristotle's system. Attempts in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century to reduce mathematics to logic by Bertand Russell and others were unsuccesful but Russell and many other scientists, mathematicians and philosophers greatly expanded the scope and range of logic introducing symbols and a wider range of techniques.

This is a compelling albeit basic introduction by an author who knows his stuff.