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1: Numbers - Real (ℝ) and Rational (ℚ)

  • Page ID
    7922
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    • 1.1: Real and Rational Numbers
      The set of real numbers (denoted, ℝ) is badly named. The real numbers are no more or less real – in the non-mathematical sense that they exist – than any other set of numbers, just like the set of rational numbers (ℚ), the set of integers (ℤ), or the set of natural numbers (ℕ). The name “real numbers” is (almost) an historical anomaly not unlike the name “Pythagorean Theorem” which was actually known and understood long before Pythagoras lived.
    • 1.E: Numbers - Real (ℝ) and Rational (ℚ) (Exercises)

    Thumbnail: Bust of Pythagoras of Samos in the Capitoline Museums, Rome. (CC BY-SA 3.0; Galilea).


    This page titled 1: Numbers - Real (ℝ) and Rational (ℚ) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Eugene Boman and Robert Rogers (OpenSUNY) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.