Tarski

Alfred Tarski

Born: 14 Jan 1902 in Warsaw, Russian Empire (now Poland)
Died: 26 Oct 1983 in Berkeley, California, USA

Tarski made important contributions in many areas of mathematics, including metamathematics (a branch of mathematical logic), set theory, measure theory, model theory, and general algebra.

Tarski taught at the University of Warsaw, Harvard University, and then joined the staff at University of California at Berkeley in 1942. He was appointed professor of mathematics there in 1949 becoming research professor at the Miller Institute of Basic Research in Science in 1958-1960.

Formal scientific languages can be subjected to more thorough study by the semantic method that he developed. He worked on model theory, mathematical decision problems and with universal algebra. He produced axioms for 'logical consequence', worked on deductive systems, the algebra of logic and the theory of definability.

Tarski wrote more than ten books in different areas of mathematics, and his teaching influenced many young mathematicians. His work includes Geometry (1935), A decision method for elementary algebra and geometry (1948), Undecidable theories (1953), Logic, semantics, metamathematics (1956).

An important paper in 1924 with Banach investigated the equivalence of geometric figures by finite decompositions.

Group theorists study 'Tarski monsters', infinite groups whose existence seems intuitively impossible.

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. W Hodges, Alfred Tarski, J. Symbolic Logic 51 (1986), 866-868.
  4. Several articles, J. Symbolic Logic 51 (1986).
  5. Several articles, J. Symbolic Logic 53 (1988).
  6. S Givant, A portrait of Alfred Tarski, Mathematical intelligencer 13 (1991), 16-32.
  7. J Etchemendy, Tarski on truth and logical consequence (Stanford, Ca., 1986).
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