Fact of the Day: 15/12/2021

When someone asks you, for instance, “How many numbers are there?”, your answer is probably related to infinity (“There are an infinite number of numbers”). Who was the first person to explain the idea of infinity? According to Mathigon.org, “German mathematician David Hilbert (1862–1943) tried to explain some of the properties of infinity using a hotel with infinitely many rooms” (“Infinity” par. 3). The idea is this: The Hilbert hotel has a never-ending corridor of rooms, and is full. However, when a new guest arrives, each person already in the hotel moves to the next room in the line, so the new guest will get a room. If two new people come in, each guest moves up two rooms, so there are now two more free rooms that can be occupied—and so on (par. 4-6). There are many more theories that came after Hilbert’s regarding infinity, but Hilbert was the first person to give an explanation of the concept. What would have happened if Hilbert had not taken the time to explain infinity? Would other scientists and mathematicians have been pushed to find better explanations? 

Reference(s): https://mathigon.org/world/Infinity

Fact Author: Durga I.

Fact Editor: Ace

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