This book presents in his own words the life of Hugo Steinhaus (1887-1972) noted Polish
mathematician of Jewish background educator and mathematical popularizer. A student of
Hilbert a pioneer of the foundations of probability and game theory and a contributor to the
development of functional analysis he was one of those instrumental to the extraordinary
flowering of Polish mathematics before and after World War I. In particular it was he who
discovered the great Stefan Banach. Exhibiting his great integrity and wit Steinhaus's
personal story of the turbulent times he survived - including two world wars and life postwar
under the Soviet heel - cannot but be of consuming interest. His account of the years spent
evading Nazi terror is especially moving. The steadfast honesty and natural dignity he
maintained while pursuing a life of demanding scientific and intellectual enquiry in the face
of encroaching calamity and chaos show him to be truly a mathematician for all seasons.The
present work will be of great interest not only to mathematicians wanting to learn some of the
details of the mathematical blossoming that occurred in Poland in the first half of the 20th
century but also to anyone wishing to read a first-hand account of the history of those
unquiet times in Europe - and indeed world-wide - by someone of uncommon intelligence and
forthrightness situated near an eye of the storm.
