Title: “Die ganzen Zahlen hat der liebe Gott gemacht, alles andere ist Menschenwerk.” – L. Kronecker. Translation: “God made the integers. All else is the work of Man.”
Abstract: We were taught about the number line and its properties in middle school. Only in college do we learn that the number line is created by taking the rationals and “filling in the holes”. (It took mathematicians 200+ years to understand all this, so the 8 or so years it’s taking you is fast.) In this talk we’ll explore other ways of “filling in the Holes” and why these other number systems are both natural and powerful things.