Number Systems

The subject of this book is the successive construction and development of the basic number systems of mathematics: positive integers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers and complex numbers. This second edition expands upon the list of suggestions for further reading in Appendix III. From the Preface: 'The present book basically takes for granted the non-constructive set-theoretical foundation of mathematics, which is tacitly if not explicitly accepted by most working mathematicians but which I have since come to reject. Still, whatever one's foundational views, students must be trained in this approach in order to understand modern mathematics. Moreover, most of the material of the present book can be modified so as to be acceptable under alternative constructive and semi-constructive viewpoints, as has been demonstrated in more advanced texts and research articles'.