What is Infinity?

8 Facts About Infinity That Will Blow Your Mind

Infinity is an abstract concept used to describe something that is endless or boundless. It is important in mathematics, cosmology, physics, computing, and the arts.

Infinity has its own special symbol: ∞. The symbol, sometimes called the lemniscate, was introduced by clergyman and mathematician John Wallis in 1655. The word "lemniscate" comes from the Latin word lemniscus, which means "ribbon," while the word "infinity" comes from the Latin word infinitas, which means "boundless."

Wallis may have based the symbol on the Roman numeral for 1000, which the Romans used to indicate "countless" in addition to the number. It's also possible the symbol is based on omega (Ω or ω), the last letter in the Greek alphabet.

The concept of infinity was understood long before Wallis gave it the symbol we use today. Around the 4th or 3rd century B.C.E., the Jain mathematical text Surya Prajnapti assigned numbers as either enumerable, innumerable, or infinite. The Greek philosopher Anaximander used the work apeiron to refer to the infinite. Zeno of Elea (born circa 490 B.C.E.) was known for paradoxes involving infinity. Read more...

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