Naive Set Theory is a mathematics textbook by Paul Halmos originally published in 1960. This book is an undergraduate introduction to not-very-naive set theory. It is still considered by many to be the best introduction to set theory for beginners. While the title states that it is naive, which is usually taken to mean without axioms, the book does introduce all the axioms of Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory and gives correct and rigorous definitions for basic objects. Where it differs from a "true" axiomatic set theory book is its character: there are no long-winded discussions of axiomatic minutiae, and there is next to nothing about advanced topics like large cardinals. Instead, it tries to be intelligible to someone who has never thought about set theory before.
Famous quotes containing the words naive, set and/or theory:
““The days have outnumbered
my fingers and toes.
What can I count with now?”
Saying this,
the naive girl cries.”
—Hla Stavhana (c. 50 A.D.)
“If you set to work to believe everything, you will tire out the believing-muscles of your mind, and then you’ll be so weak you won’t be able to believe the simplest true things.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“... the first reason for psychology’s failure to understand what people are and how they act, is that clinicians and psychiatrists, who are generally the theoreticians on these matters, have essentially made up myths without any evidence to support them; the second reason for psychology’s failure is that personality theory has looked for inner traits when it should have been looking for social context.”
—Naomi Weisstein (b. 1939)