_The Wilderness of the Infinite_ explores the emergence in the
Latinate thirteenth century of original approaches to mathematical
infinity and to unequal infinities. Within the span of twenty years
(1220-1240), Robert Grosseteste and William of Auvergne countenanced
the actual infinite and presented very original views on the
possibility of comparing infinities. Robert Grosseteste postulated the
existence of infinite numbers that measure the number of points in
finite line segments. Until his proposal, no one in Western culture
had operated with infinite numbers.
Grosseteste's proposal led to debates on what criteria one should use
when assigning 'sizes' to infinite collections with one-to-one
correspondence being proposed as a challenge to the part-whole
intuition defended by Grosseteste. But the book is not only about
Robert Grosseteste, William of Auvergne, and their impact on medieval
philosophy in the period up to 1275. Rather, the historical
investigation is instrumental in showing that some of the daring ideas
proposed by Grosseteste and William of Auvergne although criticized as
naïve, or even incoherent, by twentieth century investigators can be
given a perfectly coherent development using some recent mathematical
theories, namely non-standard analysis and the theory of numerosities.
The book thus offers a methodological proposal on how to engage with
the history and the philosophy of mathematical infinity.
Les mer
Robert Grosseteste, William of Auvergne, and Mathematical Infinity in the Thirteenth Century
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780198926894
Publisert
2026
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter