Essay Infinity

Nguyen 1
Professor Robert DiSallle
Philosophy 1807
November 23rd, 2023
“…Finally, the attributes "equal," "greater," and "less" are not applicable to infinite, but only
to finite, quantities.” Galileo,”Infinity,” p. 2.
With just a simple yet complex sentence above, Galileo effectively portrayed his view
of mathematics and pinpointed the flaws within the same field of discipline and ultimately
changed how we view modern-day mathematics. In his book “Discourses and
Demonstrations Concerning Two New Sciences” featuring two mathematicians, Simplicio
and Salviati, Galileo’s (or Salviati in his book) idea of the infinite is that our prior knowledge
of basic mathematics couldn’t be applied to the concept of the infinite. Things like natural
numbers, which can be easily determined whether or not they are equal, greater or less than
another natural number by simply observing the number and its properties such as the tenth
or the thousandth of the said number. But once we declare a set of numbers as infinite, we
cannot compare such a set to another set of infinite numbers and determine whether or not
they are equal, greater or less; simply because they are infinite.
Galileo, in his effort to prove that we can’t simply compare sets of infinite, proposed
the idea of “one-to-one correspondence”. This idea entails pairing a natural number and its
squared number, hence the term one-to-one correspondence. For instance, the first pair would
include one and one, the second pair would be two and four, three and nine and so on
indefinitely. From the perspective of an amateur mathematician, it would appear that the set
of infinite natural numbers possesses much more numbers than the set of perfect square
numbers since it (the set of natural numbers) contains imperfect squares like two, three, five,
six, and seven and so on as well as the perfect square numbers itself, thus the set of square
Nguyen 2
numbers must be less than the set of natural numbers. However, in his work, Galileo argued
that since every natural number can indefinitely pair with another square number
corresponding to it, regardless of how many numbers lie between each pair, therefore there
must be as many square numbers as there are natural numbers.
The same theory could be applied to the case of two different lines of different length
which puzzled Simplicio (page 1). The idea, as I understand it, involves us deciding a point
of each line and pairing them together. For instance, we can connect the midpoint of both
lines, then the quarter points, and so forth, continuing this process infinitely. By doing so, it
becomes evident that they both share an infinite amount of points, regardless of their sizes
and length. Ultimately establishes that the two sets are neither equal nor lesser or greater than
one another; instead, they are in a one-to-one correspondence, implying there are as many
points in the shorter line as there are in the longer line.
By comprehending the fact that infinity itself had exploited the flaws and challenged
the fundamental principles of mathematics at the time and thus creating many complex
paradoxes. We adapted to the idea of infinity thanks to the genius thinkers from the past like
Galileo and a well-known philosopher Zeno and his motion paradoxes, together they had
constructed the foundation of a field beyond basic mathematics. By using this foundational
works, many mathematicians and physicists at the later time such as Sir Isaac Newton and
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, together had ultimately created a new field of mathematics using
the concept of infinity as its core, which we now refer to as “Calculus”. This branch of
mathematics embodied the pinnacle of mathematical revolution and forever altered how we
perceive not just numbers but the world and its limits.
Bibliography (MLA)
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Hugget, Nick. "Zeno's Paradoxes." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 30 Apr. 2002,
plato.stanford.edu/entries/paradox-zeno/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.
Look, Brandon C. "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 22
Dec. 2007, plato.stanford.edu/entries/leibniz/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.
Machamer, Peter, and David M. Miller. "Galileo Galilei." Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, 4 Mar. 2005, plato.stanford.edu/entries/galileo/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.
Smith, George . "Isaac Newton." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 19 Dec. 2007,
plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

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Nguyen 1

Professor Robert DiSallle

November 23rd, 2023

to finite, quantities.” Galileo,”Infinity,” p. 2.

changed how we view modern-day mathematics. In his book “Discourses and

Demonstrations Concerning Two New Sciences” featuring two mathematicians, Simplicio

must be as many square numbers as there are natural numbers.

points in the shorter line as there are in the longer line.

Hugget, Nick. "Zeno's Paradoxes." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 30 Apr. 2002,

plato.stanford.edu/entries/paradox-zeno/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

Look, Brandon C. "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 22

Dec. 2007, plato.stanford.edu/entries/leibniz/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

Machamer, Peter, and David M. Miller. "Galileo Galilei." Stanford Encyclopedia of

Philosophy, 4 Mar. 2005, plato.stanford.edu/entries/galileo/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

Smith, George . "Isaac Newton." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 19 Dec. 2007,

plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

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