Abstract

Model theory became an independent discipline within logic during the first half of the 1950s. Andrzej Mostowski made several distinctive contributions to this development through papers of his. Also his 1948 textbook of logic covers material in the foundations of model theory, and in 1966 he published a survey book with several chapters on model theory. We examine his choice of technical terms and concepts during this period, and we discuss a criticism made by Abraham Robinson of the coverage of model theory in the 1966 book. On this basis we draw some conclusions about Mostowski’s aims and attitudes, which were often different from those of other pioneers in the field.