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.)
“The ladies understood each other, in the careful way that ladies do once they understand each other. They were rather a pair than a couple, supporting each other from day to day, rather a set of utile, if ill-matched, bookends between which stood the opinion and idea in the metaphorical volumes that both connected them and kept them apart.”
—Alexander Theroux (b. 1940)
“Thus the theory of description matters most.
It is the theory of the word for those
For whom the word is the making of the world,
The buzzing world and lisping firmament.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)