Andrew Mcfarland

Alfred Tarski: Early Work in Poland—Geometry and Teaching Andrew Mcfarland 2014 edition

Jacket Description/Back: Alfred Tarski (1901 1983) was a renowned Polish/American mathematician, a giant of the twentieth century, who helped establish the foundations of geometry, set theory, model theory, algebraic logic, and universal algebra. Throughout his career, he taught mathematics and logic at universities and sometimes in secondary schools. Many of his writings before 1939 were in Polish and remained inaccessible to most mathematicians and historians until now. This self-contained book focuses on Tarski s early contributions to geometry and mathematics education, including the famous Banach Tarski paradoxical decomposition of a sphere as well as high-school mathematical topics and pedagogy. These themes are significant since Tarski s later research on geometry and its foundations stemmed in part from his early employment as a high-school mathematics teacher and teacher-trainer. The book contains careful translations and much newly uncovered social background of these works written during Tarski s years in Poland."Alfred Tarski: Early Work in Poland Geometry and Teaching "serves the mathematical, educational, philosophical, and historical communities by publishing Tarski s early writings in a broadly accessible form, providing background from archival work in Poland, and updating Tarski s bibliography."Table of Contents: Foreword, by Ivor Grattan-Guinness.- Preface.- Illustrations.- Maps of Central Europe.- Part One: Debut.- 1 School, University, Strife.- 2 A Contribution to the Axiomatics of Well-Ordered Sets (1921).- 3 Doctoral Research.- Part Two: Geometry.- 4 Area, Volume, Measure.- 5 On the Equivalence of Polygons (1924).- 6 On Decomposition of Point Sets into Respectively Congruent Parts (1924).- 7 Degree of Equivalence of Polygons.- 8 Research Threads.- Part Three: Teaching.- 9 Career and Family.- 10 Congress of Mathematicians of Slavic Countries (1929).- 11 Circumference of a Circle (1932).- 12 Exercises Posed by Tarski.- 13 Geometry for the Third Gimnazjum Class (1935).- 14 Teaching and Logic to the New World.- Part Four: Supplement.- 15 Assorted Contributions.- 16 Posthumous Publications.- 17 Biographical Studies.- 18 Research Surveys.- Bibliography.- Permissions.- Index of Persons.- Index of Subjects."Review Quotes: From the book reviews: With its focal point being the life and work of Alfred Tarski, this big book provides an almost an encyclopaedic account of mathematical life in Poland in the period 1920 to 1945 . one s motivation to proceed through the extensive amount of material is enhanced by the liveliness of its presentation. In short, it should appeal to many readers and could form a reference work for those interested in the history of early 20th century mathematics. (P. N. Ruane, MAA Reviews, January, 2015)"Review Quotes: From the book reviews: This work sheds new light on mathematicians understanding of Tarski and his work. As a scholarly contribution, it provides translations of many of Tarski s publications, especially those dealing with geometry and teaching. Throughout the text, the editors serve as guides who provide relevant fascinating historical details, biographical asides for many logicians and mathematicians and thorough documentation, commentary, and references as necessary. This work is a gem. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty. (J. Johnson, Choice, Vol. 52 (7), March, 2015) With its focal point being the life and work of Alfred Tarski, this big book provides an almost an encyclopaedic account of mathematical life in Poland in the period 1920 to 1945 . one s motivation to proceed through the extensive amount of material is enhanced by the liveliness of its presentation. In short, it should appeal to many readers and could form a reference work for those interested in the history of early 20th century mathematics. (P. N. Ruane, MAA Reviews, January, 2015)"Publisher Marketing: Alfred Tarski (1901 1983) was a renowned Polish/American mathematician, a giant of the twentieth century, who helped establish the foundations of geometry, set theory, model theory, algebraic logic and universal algebra. Throughout his career, he taught mathematics and logic at universities and sometimes in secondary schools. Many of his writings before 1939 were in Polish and remained inaccessible to most mathematicians and historians until now. This self-contained book focuses on Tarski s early contributions to geometry and mathematics education, including the famous Banach Tarski paradoxical decomposition of a sphere as well as high-school mathematical topics and pedagogy. These themes are significant since Tarski s later research on geometry and its foundations stemmed in part from his early employment as a high-school mathematics teacher and teacher-trainer. The book contains careful translations and much newly uncovered social background of these works written during Tarski s years in Poland."Alfred Tarski: Early Work in Poland "serves the mathematical, educational, philosophical and historical communities by publishing Tarski s early writings in a broadly accessible form, providing background from archival work in Poland and updating Tarski s bibliography." Review Citations:

Choice 03/01/2015 pg. 1186 (EAN 9781493914739, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  McFarland, Andrew Andrew S. McFarland is Professor of Political Science and a Fellow of The Institute for the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His main research interest is theorizing and empirically exploring the involvement of interest groups and social movements in politics. He has published several books in this field including "Common Cause: Lobbying in the Public Interest" (1984), "Neopluralism: The Evolution of Political Process Theory" (2004), and the co-edited "Social Movements and American Political Institutions" (1998). Contributor Bio:  Smith, James Retired at 29 Told I would die young because of Hirschprung's Disease Won $129k in engineering bids last 6-months of work Friends with JFK and Lyndon Johnson's PR Advisor (also called him grandad RIP) Moved outside the US in November 2013 Dropped out of my MBA program after four classes with a 3.75 GPA Lost state DECA Marketing Championship because I lost my notes(still placed #4th or 5th in state) Reduced my monthly expenses by 80% in 6-months Victim of an armed robbery 2 months after moving to Tijuana Kicked out onto streets by friend because he said I didn't understand business and didn't like small talk Quit drinking in 2007 and got addicted to mountain biking My gradfather died one week after moving across the country to be closer to him Consulted with the same music advisors that Taylor Swift and Tool did when they were starting Wrote and self-published a 326 page book that sold 1 copy Was told by prospective ghostwriter that my "writing style was too technical and boring" Won DECA regional marketing competition with only 20 minutes of practice Set two-time world records while on submarine team at Virginia Tech Wrote and self-published Amazon #1 bestseller eBook Ran out of money and didn't eat for a week in Lima, Peru Recorded and produced 45 songs after only taking two guitar lessons Hiked the 40-kilometer Santa Cruz trail at over 14k' elevation in Peru in 3 days Turned down by every publisher I contacted so no choice but to self-publish Snowboarded double black diamonds at Mount Tremblant, Canada Lived in my car for 3-months and spent time homeless in San Diego Had a blog that made roughly $0.08 in about 3 years of operation Explored the remote beaches of Costa Rica by 4-wheel drive Cashed in my entire retirement to keep a failed business going Awoke in a B&B in Germany to the Alps with a fresh coat of snow Stayed in a backpackers hostel in the Red Light district of Amsterdam Camped out for three days at Bonnaroo in Tennessee Spent a semester on academic probation at Virgina Tech Camped out for three days at Bonnaroo in TennesseeContributor Bio:  Grattan-Guinness, Ivor Ivor Grattan-Guinness is professor of the history of mathematics and logic at Middlesex University, England.