![]() ![]() So Cantor’s idea was to imagine we have a package containing all these numbers put a label on it saying “The natural numbers”, and treat the package as a single entity. There are infinitely many counting numbers any number you write down is a negligible step along the way to infinity. It was left to Cantor in the nineteenth century to show us the way to think about infinity, which is accepted by most mathematicians now. Galileo tried to tackle the problem, noting that an infinite set could be matched up with a part of itself, but in the end drew back. ![]() For mathematicians, infinity was off-limits for two millennia after Aristotle’s ban. He believed that we could consider “potential infinity” (we can count objects without knowing how many more are coming) but that a “completed infinity” is taboo. IAI NewsĪristotle was one of the most influential Greek philosophers. ![]() There are many approaches to infinity through the twin pillars of science and religion, but I will just restrict my attention here to the views of mathematicians and physicists. Peter Cameron, Emeritus Professor Mathematics at Queen Mary, University of London, writes: Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flipboard Print arroba Email ![]()
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