Set theory (nonfiction): Difference between revisions
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After the discovery of paradoxes in naive set theory, numerous axiom systems were proposed in the early twentieth century, of which the Zermelo–Fraenkel axioms, with the axiom of choice, are the best-known. | After the discovery of paradoxes in naive set theory, numerous axiom systems were proposed in the early twentieth century, of which the Zermelo–Fraenkel axioms, with the axiom of choice, are the best-known. | ||
Beyond its foundational role, set theory is a branch of mathematics in its own right, with an active research community. | Beyond its foundational role, set theory is a branch of mathematics in its own right, with an active research community. | ||
Revision as of 07:42, 6 June 2016
Set theory is the branch of mathematics (nonfiction) that studies sets, which informally are collections of mathematical objects.
Description
Although any type of object can be collected into a set, set theory is applied most often to objects that are relevant to mathematics.
The language of set theory can be used in the definitions of nearly all mathematical objects.
History
The modern study of set theory was initiated by Georg Cantor (nonfiction) and Richard Dedekind in the 1870s.
After the discovery of paradoxes in naive set theory, numerous axiom systems were proposed in the early twentieth century, of which the Zermelo–Fraenkel axioms, with the axiom of choice, are the best-known.
Beyond its foundational role, set theory is a branch of mathematics in its own right, with an active research community.
Contemporary research into set theory includes a diverse collection of topics, ranging from the structure of the real number line to the study of the consistency of large cardinals.
Nonfiction cross-reference
Fiction cross-reference
John Venn computing one of his famed diagrams.
Writer/sorceror Roger Zelazny (working with artist William Blake) conjures a Venn diagram against an unnamed demon.
External links
- Set theory @ Wikipedia