Definition:Infinity/Historical Note

Historical Note on Infinity

The concept of infinity has bothered scientists, mathematicians and philosophers since the time of Plato (who accepted the concept as realisable) Aristotle (who did not).

The symbol $\infty$ for infinity was introduced by John Wallis in the $17$th century.

It was Georg Cantor in the $1870$s who finally made the bold step of positing the actual existence of infinite sets as mathematical objects which paved the way towards a proper understanding of infinity.

Sources

• 1972: Patrick Suppes: Axiomatic Set Theory (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $\S 1.1$ Set Theory and the Foundations of Mathematics
• 1992: George F. Simmons: Calculus Gems ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $\text {B}.12$: Wallis's Product: Footnote $1$
• 1996: Winfried Just and Martin Weese: Discovering Modern Set Theory. I: The Basics ... (previous) ... (next): Introduction