About

The Formalists is a small educational project — a place to read carefully written lessons in mathematics and logic, work through examples, and build a durable understanding of the foundations.

It currently hosts a single course, Foundations of Mathematical Logic, with more planned over time.

Preparation for computer science

Formalism, in mathematics, means working inside a formal system — with precise definitions, exact rules, and proofs you can check step by step. Computer science is built the same way: it is mathematics and logic, fully formalized.

The lessons here are written as preparation for computer science. You can write code without understanding the math underneath, but you cannot understand CS deeply without it. This site is a place to build that foundation, patiently.

Who's behind this

The Formalists is built and maintained by Karina Baha — a software developer with a long-term interest in mathematics and logic. The lessons here are written the way I wish more textbooks were: careful, well-paced, with definitions stated cleanly and proofs spelled out.

Each lesson is written and edited by me, with Claude (Anthropic) used as a drafting aid. If you spot an error, please tell me — that's how the material gets better.

Use and licensing

The lessons on this site are made available for personal study. Content is © 2026 The Formalists. All rights reserved. If you would like to reuse material in a classroom or other educational setting, please reach out — we are happy to discuss it.