Petr Hájek Library

The Petr Hájek Library as a library collection

The Petr Hájek Library (PHL) is a unique book collection, consisting of scientific and beletristic books from the estate of Prof. Petr Hajek, DrSc. (1940-2016). It consists of 645 scientific books, which can be found in the Union Catalogue of the Czech Republic, as well as an extensive unprocessed collection of music books, fiction and specialized literature from other fields of science and culture.

The PHL collection is a part of the Library of the Institute of Computer Science, CAS. It is available to the general or professional public for on-site loans, during the opening hours of the ICS Library (working days between 8.00-11.30 and 12.30-16.30). Unfortunately, ILL is not available for this collection.

If you are interested in visiting the Petr Hájek Library or studying books in person, please contact the ICS Library: library@cs.cas.cz or +420 266 05 3800.

Prof. Petr Hájek, DrSc.

Petr Hájek was an eminent Czech mathematical logician. He worked on set theory, arithmetic, data analysis, inference under uncertainty and mathematical fuzzy logic. He is the author of hundreds of scientific publications, study texts and popularization materials. Some of them have foreshadowed the further development of respective fields.

Petr Hajek's entire scientific career was connected with the Czech Academy of Sciences. He worked at the Institute of Mathematics of the CAS, and later he directed the Institute of Computer Science of the CAS. He also received a number of important awards, such as the Medal of Merit of the President of the Czech Republic, the medal "De scientia et humanitate optime meritis" and the Josef Hlávka Medal. He was not only mathematician, but also a musician. He completed his studies of organ play at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and for several decades he was the organist at the Church of Clement. Since his childhood, he was a member of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. He gained great respect for his firm civic opinion during the communist regime.

The library commemorates and presents the full range of Peter Hajek's interests. It is a place where one can imaginatively encounter the inspiration and ideas not only of a top scientist, but also of a renaissance person interested in art, literature, theology and other fields of human activity.

The Petr Hajek Library as an architectural work

The fund is placed in a uniquely designed architectural work designed and made by the COSMO studio.

The Petr Hajek Library is conceived as a semi-open space, resembling a room bordered by a library. It is meant to evoke a living room or study room that invites the visitor to stay and get some inspiration. Through the open passages and portholes, the ideas can imaginatively "seep" into the outside world.

The Petr Hájek Library was nominated for the Czech Architecture Award in 2022.