Editing Alfred Tarski (section)

==Life==
===Early life and education===
Alfred Tarski was born Alfred Teitelbaum ([[Polish language|Polish]] spelling: "Tajtelbaum"), to parents who were [[Polish Jews]] in comfortable circumstances. He first manifested his mathematical abilities while in secondary school, at Warsaw's ''[[Szkoła Mazowiecka]]''.<ref>[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], pp.17-18</ref> Nevertheless, he entered the [[University of Warsaw]] in 1918 intending to study [[biology]].<ref name="Feferman & Feferman, p.26">[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], p.26</ref>

After Poland regained independence in 1918, Warsaw University came under the leadership of [[Jan Łukasiewicz]], [[Stanisław Leśniewski]] and [[Wacław Sierpiński]] and quickly became a world-leading research institution in logic, [[foundational mathematics]], and the philosophy of mathematics. Leśniewski recognized Tarski's potential as a mathematician and encouraged him to abandon biology.<ref name="Feferman & Feferman, p.26"/>  Henceforth Tarski attended courses taught by Łukasiewicz, Sierpiński, [[Stefan Mazurkiewicz]] and [[Tadeusz Kotarbiński]], and in 1924 became the only person ever to complete a doctorate under Leśniewski's supervision. His thesis was entitled ''O wyrazie pierwotnym logistyki'' (''On the Primitive Term of Logistic''; published 1923). Tarski and Leśniewski soon grew cool to each other, mainly due to the latter's increasing anti-semitism.<ref name="FFintro" /> However, in later life, Tarski reserved his warmest praise for Kotarbiński, which was reciprocated.

In 1923, Alfred Teitelbaum and his brother Wacław changed their surname to "Tarski". The Tarski brothers also converted to [[Roman Catholicism]], Poland's dominant religion. Alfred did so even though he was an avowed [[atheism|atheist]].<ref>[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], p.294</ref><ref>"Most of the Socialist Party members were also in favor of assimilation, and Tarski's political allegiance was socialist at the time. So, along with its being a practical move, becoming more Polish than Jewish was an ideological statement and was approved by many, though not all, of his colleagues. As to why Tarski, a professed atheist, converted, that just came with the territory and was part of the package: if you were going to be Polish then you had to say you were Catholic." Anita Burdman Feferman, Solomon Feferman, ''Alfred Tarski: Life and Logic'' (2004), page 39.</ref>

===Career===
After becoming the youngest person ever to complete a doctorate at Warsaw University, Tarski taught logic at the Polish Pedagogical Institute, mathematics and logic at the university, and served as Łukasiewicz's assistant. Because these positions were poorly paid, Tarski also taught mathematics at the Third Boys’ Gimnazjum of the Trade Union of Polish Secondary-School Teachers (later the Stefan Żeromski Gimnazjum), a Warsaw secondary school, beginning in 1925.<ref>{{cite book
 | last1 = McFarland | first1 = Andrew
 | last2 = McFarland | first2 = Joanna
 | last3 = Smith | first3 = James T.
 | isbn = 978-1-4939-1473-9
 | mr = 3307383
 | page = 173
 | publisher = Birkhäuser/Springer, New York
 | title = Alfred Tarski: Early work in Poland — geometry and teaching
 | year = 2014}}</ref> Before World War II, it was not uncommon for European intellectuals of research caliber to teach high school. Hence until his departure for the United States in 1939, Tarski not only wrote several textbooks and many papers, a number of them ground-breaking, but also did so while supporting himself primarily by teaching high-school mathematics.{{sfn|McFarland|McFarland|Smith|2014|p=319}} In 1929 Tarski married fellow teacher Maria Witkowska, a Pole of Catholic background. She had worked as a courier for the army in the [[Polish–Soviet War]]. They had two children; a son [[Jan Tarski,]] who became a physicist, and a daughter Ina, who married the mathematician [[Andrzej Ehrenfeucht]].<ref>Feferman & Feferman (2004), pp. 239–242.</ref>

Tarski applied for a chair of philosophy at [[Lwów University]], but on [[Bertrand Russell]]'s recommendation it was awarded to [[Leon Chwistek]].<ref>[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], p. 67</ref> In 1930, Tarski visited the [[University of Vienna]], lectured to [[Karl Menger]]'s colloquium, and met [[Kurt Gödel]]. Thanks to a fellowship, he was able to return to Vienna during the first half of 1935 to work with Menger's research group. From Vienna he traveled to Paris to present his ideas on truth at the first meeting of the [[Unity of Science]] movement, an outgrowth of the [[Vienna Circle]]. Tarski's academic career in Poland was strongly and repeatedly impacted by his heritage. For example, in 1937, Tarski applied for a chair at [[Poznań University]] but the chair was abolished to avoid assigning it to Tarski (who was undisputedly the strongest applicant) because he was a Jew.<ref>[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], pp. 102-103</ref> Tarski's ties to the Unity of Science movement likely saved his life, because they resulted in his being invited to address the Unity of Science Congress held in September 1939 at [[Harvard University]]. Thus he left Poland in August 1939, on the last ship to sail from Poland for the United States before the German and Soviet [[invasion of Poland]] and the outbreak of [[World War II]]. Tarski left reluctantly, because Leśniewski had died a few months before, creating a vacancy which Tarski hoped to fill. Oblivious to the [[Nazi]] threat, he left his wife and children in Warsaw. He did not see them again until 1946. During the war, nearly all his Jewish extended family were murdered at the hands of the German occupying authorities.

Once in the United States, Tarski held a number of temporary teaching and research positions: Harvard University (1939), [[City College of New York]] (1940), and thanks to a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]], the [[Institute for Advanced Study]] in [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]] (1942), where he again met Gödel. In 1942, Tarski joined the Mathematics Department at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], where he spent the rest of his career. Tarski became an American citizen in 1945.<ref>[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], Chap. 5, pp. 124-149</ref> Although emeritus from 1968, he taught until 1973 and supervised Ph.D. candidates until his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=hb4d5nb20m&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00159&toc.depth=1&toc.id=|title=Alfred Tarski, Mathematics: Berkeley|author1=Robert Vaught|author2=John Addison|author3=Benson Mates|author4=Julia Robinson |year=1985|publisher=University of California (System) Academic Senate|access-date=2008-12-26}}</ref> At Berkeley, Tarski acquired a reputation as an astounding and demanding teacher, a fact noted by many observers:

{{blockquote|His seminars at Berkeley quickly became famous in the world of mathematical logic. His students, many of whom became distinguished mathematicians, noted the awesome energy with which he would coax and cajole their best work out of them, always demanding the highest standards of clarity and precision.<ref>[http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Obits/Tarski.html Obituary in ''Times'', reproduced here]</ref>}}

{{blockquote|Tarski was extroverted, quick-witted, strong-willed, energetic, and sharp-tongued. He preferred his research to be collaborative — sometimes working all night with a colleague — and was very fastidious about priority.<ref>Gregory Moore, "Alfred Tarski" in ''[[Dictionary of Scientific Biography]]''</ref>}}

{{blockquote|A charismatic leader and teacher, known for his brilliantly precise yet suspenseful expository style, Tarski had intimidatingly high standards for students, but at the same time he could be very encouraging, and particularly so to women — in contrast to the general trend. Some students were frightened away, but a circle of disciples remained, many of whom became world-renowned leaders in the field.<ref>[[#Fef|Feferman]]</ref>}}
[[File:20070206 uw buw hall glowny biblioteki.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|[[Warsaw University Library]] – at entrance (seen from rear) are pillared statues of [[Lviv-Warsaw School of Logic|Lwów-Warsaw School]] philosophers (''right to left'') [[Kazimierz Twardowski]], [[Jan Łukasiewicz]], Alfred Tarski, [[Stanisław Leśniewski]].]]
Tarski supervised twenty-four Ph.D. dissertations including (in chronological order) those of [[Andrzej Mostowski]], [[Bjarni Jónsson]], [[Julia Robinson]], [[Robert Vaught]], [[Solomon Feferman]], [[Richard Montague]], [[James Donald Monk]], [[Haim Gaifman]], [[Donald Pigozzi]], and [[Roger Maddux]], as well as [[Chen Chung Chang]] and [[Jerome Keisler]], authors of ''Model Theory'' (1973),<ref>Chang, C.C., and Keisler, H.J., 1973. ''Model Theory''. North-Holland, Amsterdam.  American Elsevier, New York.</ref> a classic text in the field.<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=13347}}</ref><ref name=studentlist>[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], pp. 385-386</ref> He also strongly influenced the dissertations of [[Adolf Lindenbaum]], [[Dana Scott]], and [[Steven Givant]]. Five of Tarski's students were women, a remarkable fact given that men represented an overwhelming majority of graduate students at the time.<ref name=studentlist/> However, he had extra-marital affairs with at least two of these students. After he showed another of his female student's{{who|date=July 2023}} work to a male colleague{{who|date=July 2023}}, the colleague published it himself, leading her to leave the graduate study and later move to a different university and a different advisor.<ref>[[#F-F|Feferman & Feferman]], pp. 177–178 and 197–201.</ref>

Tarski lectured at [[University College, London]] (1950, 1966), the [[Institut Henri Poincaré]] in Paris (1955), the [[Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science]] in Berkeley (1958&ndash;60), the [[University of California at Los Angeles]] (1967), and the [[Pontifical Catholic University of Chile]] (1974&ndash;75). Among many distinctions garnered over the course of his career, Tarski was elected to the [[United States National Academy of Sciences]], the [[British Academy]] and the [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1958,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dwc.knaw.nl/biografie/pmknaw/?pagetype=authorDetail&aId=PE00003268 |title=Alfred Tarski (1902 - 1983) |publisher=Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=17 July 2015}}</ref> received [[honorary degree]]s from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in 1975, from [[Marseille]]'s [[Paul Cézanne University]] in 1977 and from the [[University of Calgary]], as well as the Berkeley Citation in 1981. Tarski presided over the [[Association for Symbolic Logic]], 1944&ndash;46, and the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science, 1956&ndash;57. He was also an honorary editor of ''[[Algebra Universalis]]''.<ref>{{MacTutor Biography|id=Tarski}}</ref>