Originally published in 1854, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought , by English mathematician George Boole, launched modern mathematical logic. Boole's major contribution was to demonstrate conclusively that the symbolic expressions of algebra could be adapted to convey the fundamental principles and operations of logic, which had previously been expressed only in words. This reprint of the classic text features an introduction by John Corcoran (philosophy, SUNY Buffalo). Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)