So, if you accidentally read this blog, you might have noticed a couple posts ago I complained about being in between jobs. Well, almost as soon as I wrote that I got an offer to work at the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the expense and stress of moving (among other more private matters) made me forget that I had a blog. As always, it was remembering that I liked Steve Reads that reminded me that I had all this half written junk.
I've only now been in Warsaw for about a week, so I won't give any half digested first impression crap. Okay one: is there really a pho restaurant in every university district in the world? Clearly, this implies that college is the right place to go. I guess should count myself lucky.
W Sierpinski
So, Warsaw (and Poland more generally) has this massive history of mathematical excellence that I know a lot about, but writing it would be a lot of effort. Plus I'd have to describe what they were doing. The guy above gave the first course dedicated entirely to set theory anywhere in the world! He's kind of a big deal. The mathematical skill of the Poles was sufficient that they were the ones to actually crack ENIGMA (they actually have a lot of crypto courses at the University of Warsaw, but I somewhat doubt that is a tradition dating so far back). So, one day I will probably idly write a history of Polish mathematics, forget to publish it and move to Korea.
Anyway, hope you're all having fun out there while I'm stuck in the actually acceptably warm Warsaw. Perhaps I'll remember this blog more this weekend, where I have a nothing planned but endless paperwork.
