Polish School of Mathematics

It has been debated what stimulated the exceptional efflorescence of mathematics in Poland after World War I.

The Positivists extolled science and technology, and popularized slogans of "organic work" and "building from the foundations."

In the 20th century, mathematics was a field of endeavor that could be successfully pursued even with the limited resources that Poland commanded in the interbellum period.

Four hundred years later, Marian Rejewski — subsequently assisted by fellow mathematician-cryptologists Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski — in December 1932 first broke the German Enigma machine cipher, thus laying the foundations for British World War II reading of Enigma ciphers ("Ultra").

After the war, Stanisław Ulam showed Edward Teller how to construct a practicable hydrogen bomb.