[FOM] Prenex Normal Forms

[Alasdair Urquhart]

> Does anyone know who first proved the theorem that all wffs of first
> order logic are equivalent to prenex normal form theorems and when this
> was proven?

I believe this was first proved by Charles Saunders Peirce in his article
"On the algebra of logic", American Journal of Mathematics, 1885.
On page 196 of that article, he gives a brief sketch of conversion to
prenex normal form, remarking that it "can evidently be
done."


Alasdair Urquhart