  A Boolean power S of a commutative ring R has the structure of a commutative
R-algebra, and with respect to this structure, each element of S can be written
uniquely as an R-linear combination of orthogonal idempotents so that the sum
of the idempotents is 1 and their coefficients are distinct. In order to
formalize this decomposition property, we introduce the concept of a Specker
R-algebra, and we prove that the Boolean powers of R are up to isomorphism
precisely the Specker R-algebras. We also show that these algebras are
characterized in terms of a functorial construction having roots in the work of
Bergman and Rota. When R is indecomposable, we prove that S is a Specker
R-algebra iff S is a projective R-module, thus strengthening a theorem of
Bergman, and when R is a domain, we show that S is a Specker R-algebra iff S is
a torsion-free R-module. For an indecomposable R, we prove that the category of
Specker R-algebras is equivalent to the category of Boolean algebras, and hence
is dually equivalent to the category of Stone spaces. In addition, when R is a
domain, we show that the category of Baer Specker R-algebras is equivalent to
the category of complete Boolean algebras, and hence is dually equivalent to
the category of extremally disconnected compact Hausdorff spaces. For a totally
ordered R, we prove that there is a unique partial order on a Specker R-algebra
S for which it is an f-algebra over R, and show that S is equivalent to the
R-algebra of piecewise constant continuous functions from a Stone space X to R
equipped with the interval topology.
