Testing of Properties of Finite Algebras

The microcomputer revolution has captured the interest of many mathematicians — and Alan Day was certainly a leader in the new wave of computer enthusiasts. Early on he worked out an arrangement with Apple computers; and he was always a strong supporter of their machines. One of his early projects was to create a large database of papers in universal algebra and lattice theory. In the mid 1980’s he distributed to his colleagues a program to draw lattices which had menus to check properties such as distributivity and modularity. And the last lecture I heard him give was a lovely talk on relational databases, at McMaster in the Fall of 1989. Unfortunately I am not qualified to give a detailed commentary on Alan’s work in computer science ([20], [21]). But I will discuss some aspects of computers and universal algebra which I think Alan would have found interesting.