Open AccessThe notion of Natural Numbers among Germanic Mathematicians during the Second Half of the 18th Century
Author(s) -
Elías Fuentes Guillén
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
revista brasileira de história da matemática/revista brasileira de história da matemática
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2675-7079
pISSN - 1519-955X
DOI - 10.47976/rbhm2019v19n3701-23
Subject(s) - naturalness , natural (archaeology) , natural number , foundation (evidence) , history , mathematics , archaeology , physics , combinatorics , quantum mechanics
While the idea of the naturalness of the positive integers is ancient, the idea of the naturals as the foundation of our number system is not. This latter idea, along with other factors, eventually led to the abstract definitions of natural numbers at the end of the 19th century. But, what led to such an idea that was already present among Germanic mathematicians in the first third of the 19th century? This article examines the tensions around the notion of number among the Germanic mathematicians of the second half of the 18th century with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of some of the factors that explain theemergence of such a different approach to naturals.