In axiomatic set theory and the branches of logic, mathematics, philosophy, and computer science that use it, the axiom of infinity is one of the axioms of Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory. It guarantees the existence of at least one infinite set, namely a set containing the natural numbers.
Read more about Axiom Of Infinity: Formal Statement, Interpretation and Consequences, Extracting The Natural Numbers From The Infinite Set, Independence
Famous quotes containing the words axiom of, axiom and/or infinity:
“It’s an old axiom of mine: marry your enemies and behead your friends.”
—Robert N. Lee. Rowland V. Lee. King Edward IV (Ian Hunter)
““You are bothered, I suppose, by the idea that you can’t possibly believe in miracles and mysteries, and therefore can’t make a good wife for Hazard. You might just as well make yourself unhappy by doubting whether you would make a good wife to me because you can’t believe the first axiom in Euclid. There is no science which does not begin by requiring you to believe the incredible.””
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“We must not suppose that, because a man is a rational animal, he will, therefore, always act rationally; or, because he has such or such a predominant passion, that he will act invariably and consequentially in pursuit of it. No, we are complicated machines; and though we have one main spring that gives motion to the whole, we have an infinity of little wheels, which, in their turns, retard, precipitate, and sometime stop that motion.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)