If you know my Introduction to Formal Logic reasonably well, and in particular if you have at some time taught from it, do please read on!
CUP suggested over a couple of months ago now that I write a second edition of this textbook. And I have become very taken with the idea. The proposal in headline terms is that the second edition will also cover natural deduction, while losing a little of the stuff which is unnecessarily fancy for a first course. There’s just a bit more detail here. So I’ve been diving into the project (in fact, encouraged by supportive words from my CUP editor, in advance of having a formal contract). I’m well over 100 pages in, doing a very great deal of rewriting, and I think the result is a lot better — well, I would, wouldn’t I!
Now, I have just had a letter from my CUP editor, saying
Although a number of second editions of Cambridge books go forward without a review process, my senior colleagues are taking the view that for a textbook like this one, it would be good to canvass some opinion about the current edition and the changes/additions which you’re planning for the new one. They have put this request to me and to several other editors who are currently proposing second editions of textbooks.
Could you, therefore, come up with some names of people who you know are or have been using the book in teaching and who you think would be willing to give us their opinions? A group of about five or six names, including those of several people based in the US, would be extremely helpful.
Now, although I know of one or two, I confess I’ve not been keeping count of who has been using the text and who hasn’t (not a great number I think, given the sales aren’t exactly keeping me in luxury!). So if you know and like the book well enough to feel able to put in a good word with the Press for the idea of a second edition if they approach you, I’d be very grateful if you could drop me a line to ps218 at the usual cam.ac.uk. Thanks!
A bit of LaTeX code for formatting proofs would be sweet.
I haven’t been using it because no ND! But I’d love to use it if you added a ND system or switched to ND altogether and set aside those **** trees!
Out of curiosity, do you know why there’s the special addition “including those of several people based in the US”? What makes the U.S. unique in the textbook market?