Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

The title of this book is what propelled me to want to read it. I mean, why so contradictory? Art and Logic? Then I got to reading and well, If only I had this book when I was in college! I flunked maths a load of times and can never seem to understand the concept of "logic", in the mathematical sense. This unique and really captured my interest. One of those books you'd have fun reading again from time to time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Basic Books for the chance to read a copy of this book!

This book is divided into three parts: an introduction to logic, a discussion of logic's limits (such as paradoxes), and "Beyond Logic," her core arguments about how to use logical principles in the real world. I loved the first two, but the third one started to wear on me. The strength of this book in how it is an accessible introduction to logic with real-world examples. On the other hand..."weakness" isn't the right word as this is very clearly a deliberate choice, but it started to grate on me that this book's real-world examples are basically a handbook for smug liberals on Why Conservatives Are Illogical and Wrong. I admit, I kind of am part of the target audience, but as political examples became more and more frequent, the pandering got tiresome.

The introduction to logic starts from the very beginning and talks a lot about the use of abstraction to temporarily distance from what might happen in real life (1+1=2 mathematically, but if you give a child 1 cookie then 1 cookie they will probably eat them and there will be 0 cookies), and things like If X then Y, or how the opposite of something is different from a logical negation. "Everything is purple" and "nothing is purple" are opposites, but the statement "everything is purple" can be disproved with just one non-purple thing. She introduced concepts in a way that was very easy to understand and had some fun examples, like when she tries to demonstrate the Intermediate Value Theorem with cookies (if she bakes cookies of every size from tiny to huge, somewhere in that range will be your perfect cookie) (note, this example actually comes later in the book).

I really enjoyed the middle section on logic's limits. The highlight for me was the chapter on famous paradoxes, from Zeno's Paradox to Hilbert's Hotel. And don't worry, she explains what all of them are. I also enjoyed reading about the ways that humans try to navigate the illogical world with systems like trial by jury, peer review, and game theory.

As I mentioned, the final section was my least favorite part of the book. I believe that humans are messy and illogical and contradictory and that's part of being human, while this part was all about how to be a logical person by having internally consistent guiding principles. And lots and lots of current-events examples, many of which I've seen shared on my Facebook feed dozens of times -- things like why "All lives matter" is a straw-man argument, or why it's illogical to like the ACA but hate Obamacare.

I agree with some other comments I've seen, that this book might not make as much sense as we get farther away from its publication date, which makes me sad because I think the logical principles and paradoxes are fabulous. But it's clearly a deliberate move to apply logic to current events, and so this will appeal to a very specific audience. Ultimately, I have mixed feelings about this book. I refreshed a lot of my knowledge and skimmed past some of the political examples that I've seen beat to death, and overall enjoyed my personal reading experience, but I would only recommend it to someone who aligns with US liberal politics.

I really enjoyed the subject matter and how the author used her background in math to explain the difference between something being mathematically true and logically correct due to the fact that the world we live in isn't a perfectly logical place. Some background is required to fully understand the points being made and it wasn't light reading, but it was enjoyably and informatively presented. There's a lot to learn about this subject and this book furthered my knowledge. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was not what I expected from this book. I was getting lost from the beginning. It would have been helpful to have a better summary going in to it.

Hey, I struggle with logic because I'm in a field where emotion and behavior is key and reading this book I've learned will take me quite some time to accept that hey, we need both.
I love the examples the author draws and her background in Mathematics helps shed more light on logic and how sometimes she also struggles with emotion. It's true that when we deal with humans emotions are involved and I am glad someone set out to publish a book that helps the general audience put things into perspective.
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.