Roads to Infinity: The Mathematics of Truth and Proof (Hardback)
$40.92 - Free shipping worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for Roads to Infinity Offers a comprehensive introduction to the role of infinity in mathematics, from ancient to modern times. Suitable for general audience, this book explains the critical philosophical issues connected to the concept of infinity and their relevance for the foundations of mathematics.
Full description- Publisher: A K Peters
- Published: 13 July 2010
- Format: Hardback 250 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Mathematics | Mathematical Foundations | Set Theory | Number Theory | History Of Mathematics
- ISBN 13: 9781568814667 ISBN 10: 1568814666
- Sales rank: 256,256
Full description for Roads to Infinity
Winner of a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award for 2011! This book offers an introduction to modern ideas about infinity and their implications for mathematics. It unifies ideas from set theory and mathematical logic, and traces their effects on mainstream mathematical topics of today, such as number theory and combinatorics. The treatment is historical and partly informal, but with due attention to the subtleties of the subject. Ideas are shown to evolve from natural mathematical questions about the nature of infinity and the nature of proof, set against a background of broader questions and developments in mathematics. A particular aim of the book is to acknowledge some important but neglected figures in the history of infinity, such as Post and Gentzen, alongside the recognized giants Cantor and Godel.
