Alfred Tarski : life and logic

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Bibliographic Information

Alfred Tarski : life and logic

Anita Burdman Feferman, Solomon Feferman

Cambridge University Press, 2008, c2004

  • : pbk

Available at  / 7 libraries

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"First paperback edition 2008"--T.p. verso

Includes bibliographical references (p. 409-416) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Alfred Tarski, one of the greatest logicians of all time, is widely thought of as 'the man who defined truth'. His work on the concepts of truth and logical consequence are cornerstones of modern logic, influencing developments in mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science. Tarski was a charismatic teacher and zealous promoter of his view of logic as the foundation of all rational thought, a bon vivant and a womanizer, who played the 'great man' to the hilt. A fortuitous trip to the United States at the outbreak of World War II saved his life and turned his career around, even while it separated him from his family for years. From the cafes of Warsaw and Vienna to the mountains and deserts of California, this first full-length biography places Tarski in the social, intellectual, and historical context of his times and presents a frank, vivid picture of a personally and professionally passionate man - interlaced with an account of his major scientific achievements.

Table of Contents

  • 1. The two Tarskis
  • 2. Independence and university
  • Interlude I. The Banach-Tarski paradox, set theory and the axiom of choice
  • 3. Polot! The Polish attribute
  • Interlude II. The completeness and decidability of algebra and geometry
  • 4. A wider sphere of influence
  • Interlude III. Truth and definability
  • 5. How the 'Unity of Science' saved Tarski's life
  • 6. Berkeley is so far from Princeton
  • 7. Building a school
  • Interlude IV. The publication campaigns
  • 8 'Papa Tarski' and his students
  • 9. Three meetings and two departures
  • 10. Logic and methodology, center stage
  • 11. Heydays
  • Interlude V. Model theory and the 1963 symposium
  • 12. Around the world
  • 13. Los Angeles and Berkeley
  • Interlude VI. Algebras of logic
  • 14. A decade of honors
  • 15. The last times.

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