The essence of numbers / Frédéric Patras.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Patras, Frédéric, author.

Series:

Lecture notes in mathematics (Springer-Verlag) ; 2278.

Lecture notes in mathematics (Springer-Verlag). History of mathematics subseries

Lecture notes in mathematics ; volume 2278. History of mathematics subseries

Standardized Title:

Possibilité des nombres. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Number theory--History.

Number theory.

History.

Mathematics--Philosophy--History.

Mathematics.

Mathematics--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

xi, 173 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cham, Switzerland : Springer, [2020]

Summary:

This book considers the manifold possible approaches, past and present, to our understanding of the natural numbers. They are treated as epistemic objects: mathematical objects that have been subject to epistemological inquiry and attention throughout their history and whose conception has evolved accordingly. Although they are the simplest and most common mathematical objects, as this book reveals, they have a very complex nature whose study illuminates subtle features of the functioning of our thought. Using jointly history, mathematics and philosophy to grasp the essence of numbers, the reader is led through their various interpretations, presenting the ways they have been involved in major theoretical projects from Thales onward. Some pertain primarily to philosophy (as in the works of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Wittgenstein...), others to general mathematics (Euclid's Elements, Cartesian algebraic geometry, Cantorian infinities, set theory...). Also serving as an introduction to the works and thought of major mathematicians and philosophers, from Plato and Aristotle to Cantor, Dedekind, Frege, Husserl and Weyl, this book will be of interest to a wide variety of readers, from scholars with a general interest in the philosophy or mathematics to philosophers and mathematicians themselves.

Notes:

Translation from French Language edition: La possibilité des nombres.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

3030566994

9783030566999

OCLC:

1176318386