HACKER Q&A
📣 leg_knocks_door

Does anyone know of any textbooks on infinity?


I was just wondering if anyone knows any good textbooks on infinity.

I saw a post on HN (or maybe it was lobste.rs) a long time ago about a textbook on the same subject and I can't seem to find it anymore.

  👤 joewferrara Accepted Answer ✓
Not a textbook, but Everything and More - A Compact History of Infinity by David Foster Wallace is a fun read about infinity. It’s technical but not quite as technical as a textbook that would be used in a college course. I have a PhD in math and I liked Everything and More a lot (but then again I also just love David Foster Wallace).
👤 uptown
I've been writing one, but it still has no ending.
👤 stiff
Here are a few popular science books:

  One Two Three . . . Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science by George Gamow
  Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite by Rudy Rucker
  Yearning for the Impossible: The Surprising Truths of Mathematics by John Stillwell
  Roads to Infinity by John Stillwell
If you want actual textbooks then maybe pick up a set theory textbook like "Naive set theory" by Halmos.