what is boolean algebra
DEFINITION of 'Boolean Algebra'. A division of mathematics which deals with operations on logical values. Boolean algebra traces its origins to an 1854 book by mathematician George Boole. The distinguishing factor of Boolean algebra is that it deals only with the study of binary variables. Most commonly boolean variables are presented with the possible values of 1 (true) or 0 (false).
Explicitly, a Boolean algebra is the partial order on subsets defined by inclusion (Skiena 1990, p. 207), i.e., the Boolean algebra of a set is the set of subsets of that can be obtained by means of a finite number of the set operations union (OR), intersection (AND), and complementation (NOT) (Comtet 1974, p. 185).