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Title: A History of Polish Mathematics

A History of Polish Mathematics

A Cultural Perspective from Origins to Modernity

by Roman Duda (Author)
©2026 Monographs 758 Pages
History & Political Science
Series: Polish Studies – Transdisciplinary Perspectives, Volume 49

Summary

The book traces the history of mathematics in the Polish lands from pagan times (the tenth century AD) to the present, with particular attention to the era inaugurated by the reforms of the National Education Commission (1773–1794), through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries until recently. Richly illustrated and thoroughly documented, it recounts the many achievements of Polish mathematicians— including the world-renowned interwar Polish School of Mathematics—alongside the great tragedies, notably the losses caused by the Second World War, as well as the arduous post-war revival. A book for anyone interested in Polish culture and its achievements.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Halftitle
  • Polish Studies – Transdisciplinary Perspectives
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Academic editors:
  • Table of Content
  • Figures
  • Epigraph
  • Foreword
  • Abbreviations
  • Chapter 1 Poland in the Middles Ages (Eleventh–Fifteenth Centuries)
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Prehistory
  • 3 The Middle Ages
  • 4 Universities
  • 5 Mathematics in Poland before 1400
  • 6 Poland’s beginnings
  • 7 Vitello
  • 8 The foundation of a university in Kraków
  • 9 Mathematics in Europe during the fifteenth century
  • 10 Polish mathematics during the fifteenth century
  • 11 The medieval scholar
  • 12 Copernicus
  • Chapter 2 Poland on the Cusp of Modern Times (Sixteenth–Eighteenth centuries)
  • 1 Culture in the sixteenth century
  • 2 Reckoner schools
  • 3 European schooling
  • 4 Schooling in Poland
  • 5 Mathematics in Poland during the sixteenth century
  • 6 The seventeenth century and the start of modern science
  • 7 Universities in Kraków, Vilnius and Lwów
  • 8 European Mathematics between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
  • 9 Polish mathematics in the seventeenth century
  • 10 The Saxon Era (1697–1795)
  • 11 The Poniatowski Era (1764–1795)
  • 12 Reforms of the national Educational Commission (Komisja Edukacji narodowej, KEN)
  • 13 Other European school reforms
  • 14 Polish mathematics in the eighteenth century
  • 15 Polish mathematical terminology
  • 16 The downfall of the country and partitions
  • Chapter 3 Poland under Partition I (1795–1865)
  • 1 After the downfall of the state
  • 2 The Duchy of Warsaw and the Congress Kingdom of Poland
  • 3 Mathematics at the Royal University (UK)
  • 4 The University in Vilnius and the Vilnius Educational District
  • 5 Galicia and the University in Kraków and Lwów
  • 6 Publishing activity
  • 7 Emigration
  • 8 Polish mathematics in 1795–1865
  • Chapter 4 Poland under Partition II (1865–1914)
  • 1 The Principal School in Warsaw
  • 2 The Russian University in Warsaw
  • 3 Organisational activity in Warsaw
  • 4 Polish Emigrés (Paris, Peru, Russia)
  • 5 Kraków
  • 6 Lwów
  • 7 The Prussian partition
  • 8 Higher technical schooling
  • 9 Activity outside the partition zones
  • 10 Publishing activity
  • 11 International cooperation
  • 12 Mathematical culture
  • 13 Polish mathematics between 1865 and 1915
  • 14 A summary of the period
  • Chapter 5 Poland in the Interwar Years (1915–1940)
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 The First World War
  • 3 Mathematical centres
  • 4 The Warsaw School of Mathematics
  • 5 The Warsaw School of Logic
  • 6 The Lwów School of Mathematics
  • 7 The significance of the Polish School of Mathematics
  • 8 A new model for an academic career
  • 9 The Polish Mathematical Society
  • 10 Publishing activity
  • 11 International collaboration
  • 12 Mathematical culture
  • 13 Emigration
  • Chapter 6 Polish Mathematics in the Interwar Years
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Set theory
  • 3 Topology
  • 4 Mathematical logic and foundations of mathematics
  • 5 Mathematical analysis
  • 6 The theory of functions of a real variable
  • 7 Complex functions
  • 8 Differential equations
  • 9 Trigonometric and orthogonal series
  • 10 Functional analysis
  • 11 Measure theory
  • 12 Probability theory
  • 13 Differential geometry
  • 14 Algebra
  • 15 number theory
  • 16 Discrete mathematics
  • 17 Mathematical statistics
  • 18 Mechanics
  • 19 Miscellaneous
  • 20 An outside view
  • 21 A tentative assessment
  • Chapter 7 The Catastrophe of the Second World War
  • 1 The invasion of Poland
  • 2 The Soviet occupation of the Eastern borderlands (1939–1941)
  • 3 The German occupation (1939–1945)
  • 4 The underground state and clandestine teaching
  • 5 War losses
  • Chapter 8 Poland after the Second World War
  • 1 Territorial and political changes
  • 2 A new academic network
  • 3 The revival of Polish mathematics (1944–1949)
  • 4 International cooperation
  • 5 New faculty
  • 6 Publishing activity
  • 7 The Communist reform of science
  • 8 Later political circumstances (1955–1989)
  • 9 Emigration
  • 10 The banach Center and other centres
  • 11 The International Congress of Mathematicians in Warsaw
  • 12 Mathematical culture
  • Chapter 9 Polish Mathematics after the Second World War
  • 1 Introduction
  • 2 Set theory
  • 3 Topology
  • 4 Mathematical logic and the foundations of mathematics
  • 5 Analysis
  • 6 Differential equations
  • 7 Complex functions
  • 8 Algebra
  • 9 Probability theory
  • 10 Mathematical statistics
  • 11 number theory
  • 12 Functional analysis
  • 13 Harmonic analysis
  • 14 Computer science
  • 15 Applications of mathematics
  • 16 Discrete mathematics
  • 17 A tentative assessment
  • Chapter 10 A Tentative Assessment
  • 1 The distant past (up to 1861)
  • 2 The significance of the half-century (1861–1914)
  • 3 The Polish School of Mathematics and its demise (1918–1945)
  • 4 A difficult revival (1945–1989)
  • 5 Independence regained and afterwards (after 1989)
  • 6 Recognition at home and abroad
  • 7 Conclusion
  • Annexes
  • Annex 1 Polish Mathematical Literature
  • Annex 2 biographical notes
  • Annex 3 Doctorates and Habilitations in Mathematics and Logic Obtained in Poland (1918–1939)
  • Annex 4 bibliography
  • Indexes
  • Index 1. Mathematics (fields, concepts, results, etc., with particular emphasis on Polish contributions)
  • Index 2. Teaching and Dissemination of Mathematics (school and university formats, degrees and titles, major journals and series, curricula, reforms, etc.)
  • Index 3. Intellectual Movements and Major Organiszations
  • Index 4. Places and the Institutions/Events Associated with Them
  • Index 5. Mathematicians Associated with Poland and Polish Historians of Mathematics
  • Index 6. Other Individuals

Polish Studies – Transdisciplinary Perspectives

Edited by Jaroslaw Fazan and Krzyszof Zajas

Volume 49

Academic editors:

Dr Karolina Karpińska – Institute for the History of Science, Polish Academy of Sciences (IHN PAN), Warsaw, Poland Dr Małgorzata Stawiska-Friedland – Mathematical Reviews/MathSciNet, American Mathematical Society, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Language editing:

Dr Małgorzata Stawiska-Friedland – Mathematical Reviews/MathSciNet, American Mathematical Society, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Translator:

Daniel R. M. Davies, MSC – British mathematician, translator, and editor; translator of Roman Duda’s Pearls from a Lost City (American Mathematical Society, 2014)

Table of Content

  1. List of Figures and Frames

  2. Foreword

  3. List of Abbreviations

  4. Chapter 1 Poland in the Middles Ages (Eleventh–Fifteenth Centuries)

    1. 1 Introduction

    2. 2 Prehistory

    3. 3 The Middle Ages

    4. 4 Universities

    5. 5 Mathematics in Poland before 1400

    6. 6 Poland’s beginnings

    7. 7 Vitello

    8. 8 The foundation of a university in Kraków

    9. 9 Mathematics in Europe during the fifteenth century

    10. 10 Polish mathematics during the fifteenth century

    11. 11 The medieval scholar

    12. 12 Copernicus

  5. Chapter 2 Poland on the Cusp of Modern Times (Sixteenth–Eighteenth centuries)

    1. 1 Culture in the sixteenth century

    2. 2 Reckoner schools

    3. 3 European schooling

    4. 4 Schooling in Poland

    5. 5 Mathematics in Poland during the sixteenth century

    6. 6 The seventeenth century and the start of modern science

    7. 7 Universities in Kraków, Vilnius and Lwów

    8. 8 European Mathematics between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

    9. 9 Polish mathematics in the seventeenth century

    10. 10 The Saxon Era (1697–1795)

    11. 11 The Poniatowski Era (1764–1795)

    12. 12 Reforms of the national Educational Commission (Komisja Edukacji narodowej, KEN)

    13. 13 Other European school reforms

    14. 14 Polish mathematics in the eighteenth century

    15. 15 Polish mathematical terminology

    16. 16 The downfall of the country and partitions

  6. Chapter 3 Poland under Partition I (1795–1865)

    1. 1 After the downfall of the state

    2. 2 The Duchy of Warsaw and the Congress Kingdom of Poland

    3. 3 Mathematics at the Royal University (UK)

    4. 4 The University in Vilnius and the Vilnius Educational District

    5. 5 Galicia and the University in Kraków and Lwów

    6. 6 Publishing activity

    7. 7 Emigration

    8. 8 Polish mathematics in 1795–1865

  7. Chapter 4 Poland under Partition II (1865–1914)

    1. 1 The Principal School in Warsaw

    2. 2 The Russian University in Warsaw

    3. 3 Organisational activity in Warsaw

    4. 4 Polish Emigrés (Paris, Peru, Russia)

    5. 5 Kraków

    6. 6 Lwów

    7. 7 The Prussian partition

    8. 8 Higher technical schooling

    9. 9 Activity outside the partition zones

    10. 10 Publishing activity

    11. 11 International cooperation

    12. 12 Mathematical culture

    13. 13 Polish mathematics between 1865 and 1915

    14. 14 A summary of the period

  8. Chapter 5 Poland in the Interwar Years (1915–1940)

    1. 1 Introduction

    2. 2 The First World War

    3. 3 Mathematical centres

    4. 4 The Warsaw School of Mathematics

    5. 5 The Warsaw School of Logic

    6. 6 The Lwów School of Mathematics

    7. 7 The significance of the Polish School of Mathematics

    8. 8 A new model for an academic career

    9. 9 The Polish Mathematical Society

    10. 10 Publishing activity

    11. 11 International collaboration

    12. 12 Mathematical culture

    13. 13 Emigration

  9. Chapter 6 Polish Mathematics in the Interwar Years

    1. 1 Introduction

    2. 2 Set theory

    3. 3 Topology

    4. 4 Mathematical logic and foundations of mathematics

    5. 5 Mathematical analysis

    6. 6 The theory of functions of a real variable

    7. 7 Complex functions

    8. 8 Differential equations

    9. 9 Trigonometric and orthogonal series

    10. 10 Functional analysis

    11. 11 Measure theory

    12. 12 Probability theory

    13. 13 Differential geometry

    14. 14 Algebra

    15. 15 number theory

    16. 16 Discrete mathematics

    17. 17 Mathematical statistics

    18. 18 Mechanics

    19. 19 Miscellaneous

    20. 20 An outside view

    21. 21 A tentative assessment

  10. Chapter 7 The Catastrophe of the Second World War

    1. 1 The invasion of Poland

    2. 2 The Soviet occupation of the Eastern borderlands (1939–1941)

    3. 3 The German occupation (1939–1945)

    4. 4 The underground state and clandestine teaching

    5. 5 War losses

  11. Chapter 8 Poland after the Second World War

    1. 1 Territorial and political changes

    2. 2 A new academic network

    3. 3 The revival of Polish mathematics (1944–1949)

    4. 4 International cooperation

    5. 5 New faculty

    6. 6 Publishing activity

    7. 7 The Communist reform of science

    8. 8 Later political circumstances (1955–1989)

    9. 9 Emigration

    10. 10 The banach Center and other centres

    11. 11 The International Congress of Mathematicians in Warsaw

    12. 12 Mathematical culture

  12. Chapter 9 Polish Mathematics after the Second World War

    1. 1 Introduction

    2. 2 Set theory

    3. 3 Topology

    4. 4 Mathematical logic and the foundations of mathematics

    5. 5 Analysis

    6. 6 Differential equations

    7. 7 Complex functions

    8. 8 Algebra

    9. 9 Probability theory

    10. 10 Mathematical statistics

    11. 11 number theory

    12. 12 Functional analysis

    13. 13 Harmonic analysis

    14. 14 Computer science

    15. 15 Applications of mathematics

    16. 16 Discrete mathematics

    17. 17 A tentative assessment

  13. Chapter 10 A Tentative Assessment

    1. 1 The distant past (up to 1861)

    2. 2 The significance of the half-century (1861–1914)

    3. 3 The Polish School of Mathematics and its demise (1918–1945)

    4. 4 A difficult revival (1945–1989)

    5. 5 Independence regained and afterwards (after 1989)

    6. 6 Recognition at home and abroad

    7. 7 Conclusion

  14. Annexes

    1. Annex 1 Polish Mathematical Literature

    2. Annex 2 biographical notes

    3. Annex 3 Doctorates and Habilitations in Mathematics and Logic Obtained in Poland (1918–1939)

    4. Annex 4 bibliography

  15. Indexes

    1. Index 1. Mathematics (fields, concepts, results, etc., with particular emphasis on Polish contributions)

    2. Index 2. Teaching and Dissemination of Mathematics (school and university formats, degrees and titles, major journals and series, curricula, reforms, etc.)

    3. Index 3. Intellectual Movements and Major Organiszations

    4. Index 4. Places and the Institutions/Events Associated with Them

    5. Index 5. Mathematicians Associated with Poland and Polish Historians of Mathematics

    6. Index 6. Other Individuals

Figures

  1. Figure 1. Universities in Europe to the end of the fifteenth century [redrawn after: Wielki atlas historyczny, ed. III, Warsaw: Demart, 2003, p. 39]

  2. Figure 2. A university lecture [L. de Voltolina, Aristoteles hält eine Vorlesung vor Studenten (Ausschnitt aus einem Liber ethicorum des Frater Henricus de Alemannia); Credit: Staatliche Museen zu berlin, Kupferstichkabinett; photograph by Jörg P. Anders; Public domain; Object page: https://id.smb.museum/object/954320/aristoteles-h%C3%A4lt-eine-vorlesung-vorstudenten-ausschnitt-aus-einem-liber-ethicorum-des-fraterhenricus-de-alemannia, accessed 4 October 2025]

  3. Figure 3. Cover of Perspectiva [Witelo, Vitellionis mathematici doctissimi peri optikés, id est, de natura, ratione, & proiectione radiorum uisus, luminum, colorum atq[ue] formarum, quam uulgo Perspectiuam uocant, libri X, norimbergæ, 1551; Credit: Fondos Digitalizados de la Universidad de Sevilla; shelfmark: A Res. 41/2/01; Public domain; Object page: https://archive.org/details/ARes41201, accessed 4 October 2025]

  4. Figure 4. Collegium Maius in Kraków. The former building of the Kraków Academy, now the Jagiellonian University Museum. It used to house lecture halls, library rooms, ceremonial halls, as well as magister rooms (rooms of the masters), who used to live and dine there while focusing on their learning. nowadays it is used for very special occasions, such as for the visit of Pope John Paul II, or the award of honorary doctorates, since it still retains its old charm and character that it enjoyed in bygone days [Collegium Maius w Krakowie – fasada od ul. Jagiellońskiej; photograph by Janusz Kozina; Credit: Museum of the Jagiellonian University, Collegium Maius]

  5. Figure 5. Nicolaus Copernicus in conversation with God [Mikołaj Kopernik, czyli rozmowa z Bogiem, painting by Jan Matejko, 1873; photograph by Grzegorz Zygier; Credit: Museum of the Jagiellonian University, Collegium Maius; inventory number: MUJ-817-M]

  6. Figure 6. Copernican model: At the centre lies the Sun, the planets move around it in circular orbits, including the Earth and the Moon [nicolaus Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, libri VI, norimbergæ: Apud Ioh. Petreium, 1543, fol. 9v; Credit: Kuyavian-Pomeranian Digital Library; Public domain; Object page: https://kpbc.umk.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=44445, accessed 4 October 2025]

  7. Figure 7. The interior of one of the rooms of Collegium Maius [Stuba Communis, Collegium Maius, photograph by Karolina Karpińska; Credit: Museum of the Jagiellonian University, Collegium Maius]

  8. Figure 8. Abacus. Abacuses remained widely used well into the twentieth century [Private collection of Maciej Marek Sysło]

  9. Figure 9. An algorist and an abacist. This illustration appears on the title page of Algorithmus linealis… by Jan of Łańcut, first published in 1513 [Jan of Łańcut, Algorithmus linealis cum pulchris conditionibus duarum regularum de tri, una de integris, altera vero de fractis…, Impresum Cracovie: per Florianum Unglerium, 1513; Credit: national Library of Poland – Digital Library Polona; Public domain; Object page: https://polona.pl/preview/61e35fcc-9092-4989-8c06-aad19ea0061d, accessed 4 October 2025]

  10. Figure 10. Important educational centres of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth around 1772 [after the map by Jerzy Kłoczowski; reprinted from Stanisław Litak, Od Reformacji do Oświecenia, p. 190. Source: Academia Militans. Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza we Lwowie, ed. Adam Redzik, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Wysoki Zamek; Instytut Pamięci narodowej, 2015, p. 78]

  11. Figure 11. Cover of Algoritmus by Kłos (1538) [Tomasz Kłos, Algoritmus, To iesth nauka Liczby, Kraków: Helena Unglerowa, 1538; Credit: Jagiellonian Digital Library; Public domain; Object page: https://www.jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/en/dlibra/publication/283328/edition/270725?language=pl, accessed 4 October 2025]

  12. Figure 12. Cover of Grzepski’s Geometria (1566) [Stanisław Grzepski, Geometria, to jest miernicka nauka, Kraków: Drukarnia Łazarzowa, 1566; Credit: Jagiellonian Digital Library; Public domain; Object page: https://jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/publication/107519/edition/100433/geometria-to-iest-miernicka-nauka-po-polsku-krotkonapisana-z-gr-ckich-y-z-lacinskich-ksiag-naydziesz-teziako-naszy-miernicy-zwykli-mierzyc-imienie, accessed 4 October 2025]

  13. Figure 13. Jesuit church in Lwów: the building attached to it is the Jesuit college-academy [postcard; title: Lwów, kościół jezuicki, Lwów: Jan bromilski (publisher), post 1906; Credit: national Library of Poland – Digital Library Polona; shelfmark: Poczt. 779; Public domain; Object page: https://polona.pl/preview/f1d84164-9983-413d-ac2f-74398229fb42, accessed 4 October 2025]

  14. Figure 14. View of eighteenth-century Lwów with the dominant building of the Jesuit college [painting by J. Lewiński. Source: Academia Militans. Uniwersytet Jana Kazimierza we Lwowie, ed. Adam Redzik, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Wysoki Zamek; Instytut Pamięci narodowej, 2015, p. 81]

  15. Figure 15. Portrait of Jan brożek (1585–1652) [Credit: Archive of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, reference code: Zbiór Fotografii XV-231-001]

  16. Figure 16. Stanisław Solski (1622–1701) [after a sketch by bolesław Podczaszyński; Source: C. biernacki, “Ksiądz Stanisław Solski,” Tygodnik Ilustrowany 79 (5 July 1884), p. 1. Credit: Digital Library of the University of Lodz (BCUL); Public domain; Object page: https://bcul.lib.uni.lodz.pl/dlibra/publication/1516/edition/1178, accessed 4 October 2025]

  17. Figure 17. Title page of Solski’s Geometra Polski [Stanisław Solski, Geometra polski, to iest nauka rysowania, podziały, przemieniania y rozmierzania liniy, angułow, figur y brył pełnych, Kraków: w Drukarni Gerzego y Mikołaia Schedlów, 1683; Credit: national Library of Poland – Digital Library Polona; shelfmark: SD XVII.4.1249; Public domain; Object page: https://polona.pl/item/geometra-polski-to-iestnauka-rysowania-podzialy-przemieniania-y-rozmierzanialiniy,MTIwMjcyMTc/, accessed 4 October 2025]

  18. Figure 18. Jan Śniadecki (1756–1830) [author: Edouard Schuler; Source: Hanna Widacka, Katalog portretów…, vol. 4, item 5459; Credit: national Library of Poland – Digital Library Polona; shelfmark: G.10483/III; Public domain; Object page: https://polona.pl/preview/e5b54865-0dce-404f-a212-e434d35064af, accessed 4 October 2025]

  19. Figure 19. The Staszic Palace was funded by Stanisław Staszic for the needs of the Warsaw Society of the Friends of Science. Since then it has served scholarship; today it is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences [photograph by Karolina Karpińska]

  20. Figure 20. Kajetan Garbiński (1798–1847) [Credit: Archive of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, reference code: Zbiór Fotografi i XV-45-001]

  21. Figure 21. Vilnius University [Source: Widoki Wilna. Były universitet Wileński. [Nr. 33] = Vues de Wilna. L’Ancienne université de Wilna (from the series Album Wileński / Album de Wilna), creator: Philippe benoist; Credit: Vilnius University Library – Digital Collections; Public domain; Object page: https://kolekcijos.biblioteka.vu.lt/objects/990000012371508452, accessed 4 October 2025]

  22. Figure 22. Jan Jakub Kulik (1793–1863) [Luboš Moravec, “Jakub Filip Kulik – Life and Work,” in WDS‘09 Proceedings of Contributed Papers, p. 1, Praha: MATFYZPRESS, 2009, p. 183]

  23. Figure 23. Zygmunt Rewkowski (1807–1893) [Józef (Szeliga) bieliński, “Prof Zygmunt Rewkowski,” Kłosy: czasopismo ilustrowane, tygodniowe, poświęcone literaturze, nauce i sztuce 48 (1243) (13 April 1889), p. 257; engraver: Edward nicz; Credit: University Library in Poznań – Wielkopolska Digital Library; Public domain; Object page: https://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/publication/394441/edition/306195, accessed 4 October 2025]

  24. Figure 24. Portrait of Stern with his machine [oil on canvas; author: Jan Antoni blank, 1823; Credit: Wikimedia Commons; Public domain; Object page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:blank-portret-Abrahama-Sterna.jpg, accessed 4 October 2025]

  25. Figure 25. Józef Maria Hoene-Wroński (1776–1853) [Credit: Archive of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, reference code: XV-19-001]

  26. Figure 26. Augustyn Frączkiewicz (1798–1883) [author: Jan Styfi, 1884; Credit: national Library of Poland – Digital Library Polona, shelfmark: G.6016/I; Public domain; Object page: https://polona.pl/item-view/d2da0419-6575-4f08-8a42-eb3b3c7a3d7e?page=0, accessed 4 October 2025]

  27. Figure 27. Władysław Wojciech Zajączkowski (1837–1898) [portrait photograph; Title: Portret Władysława Zajączkowskiego z Albumu Józefa Majera, author: J. Edler, 1881; Credit: Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences – PAUART Catalog of the artistic and scientific collections of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences; shelfmark: BZS. RKPS.6624.88; Public domain; Object page: http://pauart.pl/app/artwork?id=bZS_RKPS_6624_88, accessed 4 October 2025]

  28. Figure 28. Samuel Dickstein (1851–1939) [portrait photograph,, February 1928; Title: Samuel Dickstein – profesor matematyki i historii matematyki Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Fotografia portretowa; Collection: Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny – Illustration Archive; Credit: national Digital Archives (Poland), shelfmark: 1-n-129; Public domain; Object page: https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/96712/, see also: ttps://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/en/jednostka/-/jednostka/5985315/obiekty/309511#opis_obiektu, accessed 4 October 2025]

  29. Figure 29. Marian Aleksander baraniecki (1848–1895) [portrait photograph, Title: Portret Mariana Baranieckiego, author: Walerian Twardzicki, c. 1880; Credit: biblioteka Publiczna m.st. Warszawy – biblioteka Główna Województwa Mazowieckiego, Mazowiecka biblioteka Cyfrowa, shelfmark: Szt.Fot 18; Public domain; Object page: https://mbc.cyfrowemazowsze.pl/dlibra/publication/71677/edition/66516, accessed 4 October 2025]

  30. Figure 30. Władysław Folkierski (1842–1904) [Credit: Archive of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, reference code: Zbiór Fotografii XXVI-45-001]

  31. Figure 31. Julian Sochocki (1842–1927) [Private collection of Galina Sinkevich]

  32. Figure 32. Franciszek Mertens (1840–1927) [portrait photograph, 1870–1885; author: Atelier Awit Szubert; Credit: Staatliche Museen zu berlin, Kunstbibliothek; Public domain; Object page: https://id.smb.museum/object/1817291, accessed 4 October 2025]

  33. Figure 33. Kazimierz Paulin Żorawski (1866–1953) [portrait photograph; Credit: Archives of the Jagiellonian University, album Rektorzy Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego 1861/2-1921/2, shelfmark: not assigned]

  34. Figure 34. Stanisław Zaremba (1863–1942) [portrait photograph; Title: Stanisław Zaremba – matematyk, profesor Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, członek Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności. Fotografia portretowa; Collection: Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny – Illustration Archive; Credit: national Digital Archives (Poland), shelfmark: 1-n-661; Public domain; Object page: https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/99761/, accessed 4 October 2025]

  35. Figure 35. Józef Puzyna (1856–1919) [portrait in “Z tygodnia na tydzień,” Tygodnik Ilustrowany 50 (10 December / 27 november 1904), p. 963; Credit: University of Łódź Library, Digital Library of the University of Łódź; Public domain; Object page: https://bcul.lib.uni.lodz.pl/dlibra/publication/73/edition/50?language=en, accessed 4 October 2025]

  36. Figure 36. Wacław Sierpiński (1882–1969) [portrait photograph, February 1928; Title: Wacław Sierpiński – matematyk, profesor Uniwersytetu Lwowskiego i Warszawskiego, członek Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności; Fonds: Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny – Illustration Archive; Credit: national Digital Archives (Poland), reference code: 3/1/0/10/525; Public domain; Object page: https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/98444/, accessed 4 October 2025]

  37. Figure 37. In 1912, Wacław Sierpiński created a curve that fills a square. The illustration, made by American artist Fritz Lott in 1994 and donated to the Polish Mathematical Society, depicts an approximation of this curve and features bold links that form a portrait of Sierpiński [Danuta Ciesielska, “On the 100th Anniversary of the Sierpiński Space-Filling Curve,” Wiadomości Matematyczne 48(2), 2012, p. 73]

  38. Figure 38. Jan Łukasiewicz (1878–1956) [portrait photograph, november 1935; Title: Jan Łukasiewicz – doktor filozofii, logik, matematyk, profesor Uniwersytetu Lwowskiego i Warszawskiego. Fotografia portretowa; Fonds: Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny – Illustration Archive; Credit: national Digital Archives (Poland), reference code: 3/1/0/10/358; Public domain; Object page: https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/97484/, accessed 4 October 2025]

  39. Figure 39. Władysław Orlicz (1903–1990) [Private collection of Lech Maligranda; Source: Lech Maligranda, Witold Wnuk, 100 Years of Mathematics at the University of Poznań 1919–2019, Poznań: Adam Mickiewicz University Press, 2021, p. 339]

  40. Figure 40. Zygmunt Janiszewski (1888–1920) [Credit: Archive of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, reference code: XV-130-001]

  41. Figure 41. Stefan Mazurkiewicz (1888–1945) [Polski wkład w przyrodoznawstwo i technikę. Słownik polskich i związanych z Polską odkrywców, wynalazców oraz pionierów nauk matematyczno-przyrodniczych i techniki, ed. bolesław Orłowski, vol. 3 (M–R), Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza ASPRA-JR, 2015, p. 77]

  42. Figure 42. Stanisław Leśniewski (1886–1939) [Private collection of Jacek Jadacki, Source: Monumenta Universitatis Varsoviensis: Portrety Uczonych. Profesorowie Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego 1915–1945, vol. A–Ł, ed. Piotr Salwa, Andrzej Kajetan Wróblewski, Warszawa: WUW, 2016, p. 426]

  43. Figure 43. Hugo Dionizy Steinhaus (1887–1972) [Credit: Archives of the University of Wrocław; Collection no. 3: Zespół akt Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego od 1945, reference code: 138/Steinhaus H.]

  44. Figure 44. Stefan banach (1892–1945) [Credit: Library of the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, reference code ZF0005]

  45. Figure 45. The view from Św. Mikołaja Street toward Fredro Square presents Łozińskiego Street directly ahead, which was the location of “Łoziniec,” a student house at the UJK. To the right is a building that once housed the Scottish Café. As of 2025, this building is now occupied by a hotel, and on its ground floor, a café styled to resemble the original Scottish Café has been established and carries the same name [Title: Lwów, plac Akademicki i ul. Fredry = Lemberg, Academie-Platz u. Fredro-Gasse, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Sztuka, 1915; Credit: national Library of Poland – Digital Library Polona, shelfmark: Poczt. 1529; Public domain; Object page: https://polona.pl/preview/856feecb-ce88-4aec-8f28-b7b4a4a32fc2, accessed 4 October 2025]

  46. Figure 46. Stanisław Mazur (1905–1981) [Credit: Archive of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, reference code: Zbiór Fotografii, XXVIII-56-002]

  47. Figure 47. First entries in the Scottish Book (by Stefan banach) [Source: Home Page of Stefan banach (Wortal Stefana banacha), http://kielich.amu.edu.pl/Stefan_banach/, accessed 4 October 2025]

  48. Figure 48. Zermelo in Lwów (1930) [Credit: Library of the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, reference code: ZF006]

  49. Figure 49. Mazur and Ulam in the street [Roman Duda, Nauka polska w międzywojennym dwudziestoleciu, in “nauka Polska. Jej potrzeby, Organizacja i Rozwój” 21 (46) (2016), p. 155]

  50. Figure 50. Presidents of the Polish Mathematical Society during the twentieth century (poster created by Emilia bojańczyk) [reproduced with the kind permission of Emilia bojańczyk]

  51. Figure 51. Cover of the jubilee volume of Fundamenta Mathematicae [Fundamenta Mathematicae 25 (1935)]

  52. Figure 52. Cover of the first volume of Studia Mathematica [Studia Mathematica 1 (1929)]

  53. Figure 53. Cover of the second volume of Acta Arithmetica [Acta Arithmetica 2.2 (1937)]

  54. Figure 54. Kalejdoskop matematyczny [Hugo Steinshaus, Kalejdoskop matematyczny, Lwów–Warszawa: Książnica Atlas, 1938]

  55. Figure 55. Table of contents of the 25th anniversary volume of Fundamenta Matematicae [Fundamenta Mathematicae 25 (1935)]

Details

Pages
758
Publication Year
2026
ISBN (PDF)
9783631932094
ISBN (ePUB)
9783631947333
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783631877647
DOI
10.3726/b23457
Language
English
Publication date
2026 (June)
Keywords
history of mathematics in Poland history of education National Education Commission Polish School of Mathematics Polish mathematicians Stefan Banach Wacław Sierpiński Alfred Tarski mathematicians journals partition era WWII post-war renewal
Published
Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, New York, Oxford, 2026. 758 pp., 104 fig. b/w, 8 tables.
Product Safety
Peter Lang Group AG

Biographical notes

Roman Duda (Author)

Roman Duda is a mathematician and historian of mathematics, professor emeritus and former rector of the University of Wrocław. He has won the Banach and Dickstein Prizes of the Polish Mathematical Society (PTM) and he is an honorary member of PTM (2008) and the International Academy of the History of Science (2018).

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Title: A History of Polish Mathematics