April 25, 2006
-
Mathematics and Narrative, continued
"There is a pleasantly discursive treatment
of Pontius Pilate's unanswered question
'What is truth?'"-- H. S. M. Coxeter, 1987, introduction to
Richard J. Trudeau's remarks on
the "Story Theory" of truth
as opposed to
the "Diamond Theory" of truth
in The Non-Euclidean RevolutionA Serious Position
"'Teitelbaum,' in German,
is 'date palm.'"
-- Generations, Jan. 2003"In Hasidism, a mystical brand
of Orthodox Judaism, the grand rabbi
is revered as a kinglike link to God...."-- Today's New York Times obituary
of Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum,
who died on April 24, 2006
(Easter Monday in theOrthodox Church)
From Nextbook.org, "a gateway to Jewish literature, culture, and ideas":NEW BOOKS: 02.16.05Proofs and Paradoxes
Alfred Teitelbaum
changed his name to Tarski in the early 20s, the same time he changed
religions, but when the Germans invaded his native Poland, the
mathematician was in California, where he remained. His "great
achievement was his audacious assault on the notion of truth," says Martin Davis, focusing on the semantics and syntax of scientific language. Alfred Tarski: Life and Logic, co-written by a former student, Solomon Feferman, offers "remarkably intimate information," such as abusive teaching and "extensive amorous involvements."
From Wikipedia, an unsigned story:"In 1923
Alfred Teitelbaum and his brother Wacław changed their surnames to
Tarski, a name they invented because it sounded very Polish, was simple
to spell and pronounce, and was unused. (Years later, he met another
Alfred Tarski in northern California.) The Tarski brothers also
converted to Roman Catholicism, the national religion of the Poles.
Alfred did so, even though he was an avowed atheist, because he was
about to finish his Ph.D. and correctly anticipated that it would be
difficult for a Jew to obtain a serious position in the new Polish university system."
