What are Numbers Made of? | Infinite Series

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In the physical world, many seemingly basic things turn out to be built from even more basic things. Molecules are made of atoms, atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons. So what are numbers made of?

Check out the previous episode to find out What It Means to be a Number
   • What Does It Mean to Be a Number? (The Pea...  

And to see Gabe's solution to the Torus Clock Challenge check out:
http://bit.ly/pbs_clock_challenge

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Previous Episode:
What Does it Mean to Be A Number?
   • What Does It Mean to Be a Number? (The Pea...  

Torus Clock Challenge:
   • Telling Time on a Torus | Infinite Series  

How to Divide by "Zero"
   • How to Divide by "Zero" | Infinite Series  

Blog post about the Peano axioms and construction of natural numbers by Robert Low:
http://robjlow.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01...

Recommended by a viewer for connections to formulation of numbers in computer science:
https://softwarefoundations.cis.upenn...


Any set N and function S that meet these conditions will behave , respectively, like the natural numbers and the operation "next" or "successor". You can even define operations that fully mimic run-of-the-mill addition and multiplication in terms of any suitable S, regardless of the details of how S works . In this sense, the Peano axioms distill numberhood down to its bare essentials.

Written and Hosted by Gabe Perez-Giz
Produced by Rusty Ward
Graphics by Ray Lux
Assistant Editing and Sound Design by Mike Petrow and Linda Huang
Made by Kornhaber Brown (www.kornhaberbrown.com)

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