Single Idea 10860

[catalogued under 6. Mathematics / A. Nature of Mathematics / 3. Nature of Numbers / e. Ordinal numbers]

Full Idea

You can think of an ordinal number as being defined by the set that comes before it, so, in the non-negative integers, ordinal 5 is defined as {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}.

Gist of Idea

An ordinal number is defined by the set that comes before it

Source

Brian Clegg (Infinity: Quest to Think the Unthinkable [2003], Ch.13)

Book Reference

Clegg,Brian: 'Infinity' [Robinson 2003], p.169

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