CW. The Surreal Numbers
What follows after 0, 1, 2, … , once you’ve managed to list every counting number?
Around 1875, Georg Cantor created — or discovered if you like — the transfinite ordinals : the list continues 0, 1, 2, …, then ω , ω + 1, ω + 2, etc, for quite a long long way. John H. Conway tells us about his Surreal Numbers , which add in such gems as
1 / √ ω
Check out Knuth’s Surreal Numbers, Conway & Guy’s Book of Numbers , or for more advanced users, Conway’s On Numbers and Games.
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