This is a survey article on algebraic logic. It gives a historical background leading up to a modern perspective. Central problems in algebraic logic (like the representation problem) are discussed in connection to other branches of logic, like modal logic, proof theory, model-theoretic forcing, finite combinatorics, and Gödel’s incompleteness results. We focus on cylindric algebras. Relation algebras and polyadic algebras are mostly covered only insofar as they relate to cylindric algebras, and even there we have not told the whole story. We relate the algebraic notion of neat embeddings (a notion special to cylindric algebras) to the metalogical ones of provability, interpolation and omitting types in variants of first logic. Another novelty that occurs here is relating the algebraic notion of atom-canonicity for a class of boolean algebras with operators to the metalogical one of omitting types for the corresponding logic. A hitherto unpublished application of algebraic logic to omitting types of first order logic is given. Proofs are included when they serve to illustrate certain concepts. Several open problems are posed. We have tried as much as possible to avoid exploring territory already explored in the survey articles of Monk [93] and Németi [97] in the subject.

It is shown to be consistent with set theory that every set of reals of size ℵ₁ is null yet there are ℵ₁ planes in Euclidean 3-space whose union is not null. Similar results will be obtained for other geometric objects. The proof relies on results from harmonic analysis about the boundedness of certain harmonic functions and a measure theoretic pigeonhole principle.

We initiate the reverse mathematics of general topology. We show that a certain metrization theorem is equivalent to $\Pi_{2}^{1}$ comprehension. An MF space is defined to be a topological space of the form MF($P$) with the topology generated by {$N_p \,| \,p \in P$}. Here $P$ is a poset, MF($P$) is the set of maximal filters on $P$, and $N_p =${$F \in \rm{MF}(P)| p \in F$}. If the poset $P$ is countable, the space MF($P$) is said to be countably based. The class of countably based MF spaces can be defined and discussed within the subsystem $\mathsf{ACA}_0$ of second order arithmetic. One can prove within $\mathsf{ACA}_0$ that every complete separable metric space is homeomorphic to a countably based MF space which is regular. We show that the converse statement, "every countably based MF space which is regular is homeomorphic to a complete separable metric space," is equivalent to $\Pi_{2}^{1}-\mathsf{CA}_0$ The equivalence is proved in the weaker system $\Pi_{1}^{1}-\mathsf{CA}_0$. This is the first example of a theorem of core mathematics which is provable in second order arithmetic and implies $\Pi_{2}^{1}$ comprehension.