# How Should I Read Russell's "Principia Mathematica"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 6, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650 "2013-05-06T21:08:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/1 "2013-05-06T21:08:19Z")
I want to try reading this…but I gather it is an extremely difficult work. Any suggestions on how best to start on it? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/2 "2013-05-06T21:19:44Z")
Page 1? Sorry…sorry. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/3 "2013-05-06T21:23:02Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Page 1? > > Sorry…sorry. Is that even possible? I don’t think you find out what 1 means until you have got most of the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/4 "2013-05-06T21:27:00Z")
The following is an image of part of page 369 of volume 1: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Principia\_Mathematica\_theorem\_54-43.png](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Principia_Mathematica_theorem_54-43.png) Not an easy read, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/5 "2013-05-06T21:27:26Z")
Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be available as an audiobook, but you could try the [graphic novel](http://www.amazon.com/Logicomix-An-Epic-Search-Truth/dp/1596914521/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367875522&sr=8-1&keywords=logicomix). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/6 "2013-05-06T23:13:24Z")
The proof that 1+1=2 occurs on page 379, accompanied by the comment, “The above proposition is occasionally useful.” You could spend your time more profitably in many other ways, I’m thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/7 "2013-05-06T23:15:59Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be available as an audiobook, but you could try the [graphic novel](http://www.amazon.com/Logicomix-An-Epic-Search-Truth/dp/1596914521/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367875522&sr=8-1&keywords=logicomix). :eek: More proof that everything in the world can be explained via comics… ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/8 "2013-05-07T01:09:21Z")
If you are filled with the unquenchable desire to read Russell, I recommend “Why I Am Not A Christian”. Was my random bathroom reading for many years, due to it having been accidentally left in the bathroom and never removed. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/9 "2013-05-07T01:44:45Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The proof that 1+1=2 occurs on page 379, accompanied by the comment, “The above proposition is occasionally useful.” > > You could spend your time more profitably in many other ways, I’m thinking. There’s also this… PM, as it is often abbreviated, was an attempt to describe a set of axioms and inference rules in symbolic logic from which all mathematical truths could in principle be proven. As such, this ambitious project is of great importance in the history of mathematics and philosophy, being one of the foremost products of the belief that such an undertaking may have been achievable. However, in 1931, [Gödel’s incompleteness theorem proved for good that PM, and in fact any other attempt, could never achieve this lofty goal; that is, for any set of axioms and inference rules proposed to encapsulate mathematics, there would in fact be some truths of mathematics which could not be deduced from them.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Mathematica#G.C3.B6del_1930.2C_1931) I prefer to begin with 1+1=2. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/10 "2013-05-07T01:54:52Z")
Unless you have a serious interest in the history of mathematical thought I would recommend [This book](http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Mathematical-Philosophy-Bertrand-Russell/dp/1120301165) by Russel instead. It’s basically an accessible, but still challenging, explanation of his ideas for a mathematically educated but non-professional readers. It’s very good. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-i-read-russells-principia-mathematica/657650/11 "2013-05-07T03:49:20Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be available as an audiobook, but you could try the [graphic novel](http://www.amazon.com/Logicomix-An-Epic-Search-Truth/dp/1596914521/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367875522&sr=8-1&keywords=logicomix). This is a fun read that was just barely over my head.