Abstract
The object of this chapter is to define a set to represent the numbers 0, 1, 2, .... To be complete, we must also show how to add and multiply these numbers and prove all the usual laws: commutative, associative, etc. The most important idea contained in our construction is that of mathematical induction.
It is in the contemplation of the infinite that man attains his greatest good.
Giordano Bruno
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© 1986 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Henle, J.M. (1986). The Natural Numbers. In: An Outline of Set Theory. Problem Books in Mathematics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8680-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8680-3_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-0-387-96368-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8680-3
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