Harvey Friedman is a mathematical logic

Mathematical logic

Mathematical logic is a subfield of mathematics with close connections to foundations of mathematics, theoretical computer science and philosophical logic. The field includes both the mathematical study of logic and the applications of formal logic to other areas of mathematics...

ian at Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 in Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

. He is noted especially for his work on reverse mathematics

Reverse mathematics

Reverse mathematics is a program in mathematical logic that seeks to determine which axioms are required to prove theorems of mathematics. Its defining method can briefly be described as "going backwards from the theorems to the axioms", in contrast to the ordinary mathematical practice of...

, a project intended to derive the axioms of mathematics from the theorems considered to be necessary. In recent years this has advanced to a study of Boolean relation theory, which attempts to justify large cardinal axiom

Axiom

In traditional logic, an axiom or postulate is a proposition that is not proven or demonstrated but considered either to be self-evident or to define and delimit the realm of analysis. In other words, an axiom is a logical statement that is assumed to be true...

s by demonstrating their necessity for deriving certain propositions considered "concrete".

Friedman earned his Ph.D.

Ph.D.

A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 in 1967, with a dissertation on Subsystems of Analysis. His advisor was Gerald Sacks

Gerald Sacks

Gerald Sacks is a logician who holds a joint appointment at Harvard University as a Professor of Mathematical Logic and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Professor Emeritus. His most important contributions have been in recursion theory...

. Friedman received the Alan T. Waterman Award

Alan T. Waterman Award

The Alan T. Waterman Award is the United States's highest honorary award for scientists no older than 35. It is awarded on a yearly basis by the National Science Foundation. In addition to the medal, the awardee receives a grant of $500,000 to be used for advanced scientific research at the...

 in 1984. He delivered the Tarski lectures in 2007.

In 1967, Friedman was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's youngest professor when he taught at Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

 at age 18 as an assistant professor of philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

. He has also been a professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 and a professor of music.

Friedman is the brother of mathematician Sy Friedman

Sy Friedman

Sy-David Friedman is an American and Austrian mathematician and a professor of mathematics at the University of Vienna and the director of the Kurt Gödel Research Center for Mathematical Logic...

.

Further reading

• L. A. Harrington et al., eds., Harvey Friedman's research in the foundations of mathematics, Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics 117, Amsterdam, North-Holland Publishing Company (1985)

External links

• Harvey Friedman's homepage at the Ohio State University
  Ohio State University
  The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...