Single Idea 15893

[catalogued under 6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 5. The Infinite / h. Ordinal infinity]

Full Idea

Cantor's set theory was not of collections in some familiar sense, but of collections that can be counted using the indexes - the finite and transfinite ordinal numbers. ..He treated infinite collections as if they were finite.

Gist of Idea

Cantor's theory concerns collections which can be counted, using the ordinals

Source

report of George Cantor (works [1880]) by Shaughan Lavine - Understanding the Infinite I

Book Reference

Lavine,Shaughan: 'Understanding the Infinite' [Harvard 1994], p.3


Related Idea

Idea 15896 Cantor needed Power Set for the reals, but then couldn't count the new collections [Cantor, by Lavine]