Forcing is a powerful tool from logic which is used to prove that certain propositions of mathematics are independent of the basic axioms of set theory, ZFC. This book explains clearly, to non-logicians, the technique of forcing and its connection with independence, and gives a full proof that a naturally arising and deep question of analysis is independent of ZFC. It provides the first accessible account of this result, and it includes a discussion, of Martin's Axiom and of the independence of CH.