Basic laws of arithmetic. Derived using concept-script. Volume 1 and 2. Translated and edited by Philip A. Ebert and Marcus Rossberg. With a foreword by Crispin Wright and an appendix by Roy T. Cook (Q2846553)

The book under review provides the first English translation of Frege's third principal book (previously translations of \textit{Begriffsschrift} and \textit{Die Grundlagen der Arithmetik} have been published). In the Foreword, Crispin Wright tells us how this translation was made. It took almost 10 years and engaged several persons. The very text of Frege's work is preceeded by a Translator's Introduction in which the translators tell us about the importance of \textit{Grundgesetze}, explain the translation of crucial German terms used by Frege and tell us about typesetting \textit{Grundgesetze} (what is not an easy and obvious task!). After these introductory remarks there follows the translation of the two volumes of \textit{Grundgesetze der Arithmetik}. The book ends with Translator's Notes, Corrections, Bibliography and Appendix written by Roy T. Cook. The latter is intended to assist the reader in becoming comfortable with the notation, rules and defintions of Frege's work and to provide him/her with the basic tools to gain fluency in the language of it. Terminology, the language of \textit{Grundgesetze}, its logic and definitions are explained. An index is included as well.NEWLINENEWLINEIt is obvious that the book is a very valuable contribution to the (history of the) philosophy of mathematics. It makes one of the fundamental and epochal works accessible and available to the modern reader. It should be added that the book was published in a very nice and careful way.