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Full Idea
If any man shall take the words number and sum in a larger sense, to understand things which are numberless and sumless (such as the infinite points on a line), I could allow him the contradictious phrase 'innumerable number' without absurdity.
Gist of Idea
We can talk of 'innumerable number', about the infinite points on a line
Source
Isaac Newton (Letters to Bentley [1692], 1693.02.25)
Book Ref
Newton,Isaac: 'Philosophical Writings' [CUP 2004], p.103
A Reaction
[compressed] I take the key point here to be the phrase of taking number 'in a larger sense'. Like the word 'atom' in physics, the word 'number' retains its traditional reference, but has considerably shifted its scope. Amateurs must live with this.
| 15863 | The principles of my treatise are designed to fit with a belief in God [Newton] |
| 13150 | The motions of the planets could only derive from an intelligent agent [Newton] |
| 8340 | I do not pretend to know the cause of gravity [Newton] |
| 13151 | Not all infinites are equal [Newton] |
| 13152 | We can talk of 'innumerable number', about the infinite points on a line [Newton] |
| 12178 | That gravity should be innate and essential to matter is absurd [Newton] |