Values
Whereas elementary algebra deals mainly with real numbers, Boolean algebra deals with the values 0 and 1. These can be thought of as two integers, or as the truth values false and true respectively. In either case they are called bits or binary digits, in contrast to the decimal digits 0 through 9.
Boolean algebra also deals with other values on which Boolean operations can be defined, such as sets or sequences of bits. However, Boolean algebra is unlike many other systems of algebra in that it obeys exactly the same laws (equational properties), neither more nor fewer, no matter which of these other values are employed. Much of the subject can therefore be introduced without reference to any values besides 0 and 1. Other values are treated in the section on Boolean algebras.
Read more about this topic: Boolean Algebra (logic)
Famous quotes containing the word values:
“Science has nothing to be ashamed of even in the ruins of Nagasaki. The shame is theirs who appeal to other values than the human imaginative values which science has evolved.”
—Jacob Bronowski (1908–1974)
“Politics is not an end, but a means. It is not a product, but a process. It is the art of government. Like other values it has its counterfeits. So much emphasis has been placed upon the false that the significance of the true has been obscured and politics has come to convey the meaning of crafty and cunning selfishness, instead of candid and sincere service.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“To be faced with what so-and-so’s mother lets him do, or what the teacher said in class today or what all the kids are wearing is to be required to reexamine some part of our belief structure. Each time we rethink our values we reaffirm them or begin to change them. Seen in this way, parenthood affords us an exceptional opportunity for growth.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell (20th century)