This is my private page, so the usual disclaimers apply. Opinions expressed here, if there are any, are my own and, insofar as I am in control of my own opinions, they do not reflect opinions of any other people or institutions, including but not limited to the Jagiellonian University.
I was born on another planet. The main country on that planet was called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and led the workers of the world — united, no less — to the paradise of communism. My neck of the woods on that planet was called People's Republic of Poland. It was a dreary planet. Look here for a powerful description of how dreary it was. The poem is by Zbigniew Herbert, who in my not-so-humble opinion deserved the Nobel Prize in Literature more than some of its other Polish recipients. Alas.
But there were universities — not entirely unaffected or immune, but generally retaining the flavour of better times. I went to one of them: the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. I graduated from the JU, worked at the Department of Logic there, got my PhD. Meanwhile, on 4 June 1989 a little miracle happened: semi-free elections were held in Poland. Two things about this day are worth mentioning. One is that it wasn't a miracle, of course, but a carefully crafted move which left the former communists in possession of most of the country's wealth. But it seemed a miracle then. The other is the date: exactly the day of Tiananmen massacre.
Afterwards, my planet began drifting towards your planet.
This is the proper place to say something about two people to whom I owe more or less everything. The first of them is Andrzej Wroński, formally not my PhD supervisor, but in practice as close to a supervisor as I ever had. It was during his seminars at the Department of Logic that I learned the ropes of universal algebra and algebraic logic. Then, in 1998 I moved to Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) for a post-doc. There, I was a member of Ono Lab, led by Hiroakira Ono under whose command I rose from able seaman to boatswain, to continue the metaphor. Less metaphorically, I learned a lot about proof theory and residuated structures from Hiroakira. I stayed at JAIST for five years, during which we wrote a baby version of what later became Residuated Lattices monograph.
In 2003, I moved to Australia, first to the Australian National University in Canberra, for which I owe thanks to Rajeev Gore. Then — after a stint in Cagliari, for which I remain grateful to Francesco Paoli, and another in Lisbon, for which I am indebted to Isabel Ferreirim — I made my way back to Melbourne, where I finally settled down at La Trobe University where I then worked for 12 years: it would not have happened if it were not for Brian Davey to whom I owe eternal gratitude and perhaps a few more bottles of Golden Pheasant.
Finally, after 23 years abroad, I decided to come back home. So here I am at the Department of Logic working on algebraic logic, universal algebra and proof theory, but this page speaks of other things: "of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax — of cabbages — and kings".
For example, good shoes, or better boots, are essential for mountaneering: here is Hakusan, which I consider my home mountain, here is Kazbek in Georgia, here is Mt Kitchener in New Zealand; here it is again with the view obscured by someone's mug. Now, speaking of ships, here is the South Passage, a fine 70-ton schooner; here is what happens if you jump off her. Next, the seal, or rather the coat of arms, of the Jagiellonian University is Azure, two sceptres in saltire Or, topped by a crown Or. Simple, yet elegant. Further still, ah... I'm sure you guessed it, here is a traditional recipe for Polish sauerkraut: after placing the cabbage in a barrel, stomp the cabbage down to break the fibres and ensure the cabbage is submerged in its own brine. Bowdlerised versions mention cleaning your feet beforehand, but in fact bacteria from your feet play essential role in the process. Do not worry, our Good Mother the EU forbids it now. You wonder how I can complete the list, don't you? Easily. I was born in Kielce, in the parish of Christ the King.
Some time ago I came across two Polish books, which
seriously made the the following claim it would have been better if
just before the outbreak of World War II Poland took a strategic move
very different from what happened in real history. I was not amused.
What I did not like was the assumption that making a different
strategic move was not only possible, but indeed rational in the
circumstances. Well, let's see... moves in strategic games call for a
game-theoretic analysis, so
here is one
dressed in a sci-fi costume to avoid offending sensibilities.
Another WWII connection. A very well-written set of slides, from Jiri Tuma of Charles University, Prague, describing the contribution of Polish codebreakers to breaking Enigma code.
In case you wondered, the picture on the left (properly interpreted) is of a BCK algebra. It shows that BCK algebras do not have CEP (acronyms should be banned!)