“But what, after all, are the integers? Everyone thinks that he or she knows, for example, what the number three is — until he or she tries to define or explain it.”

— Carl B. Boyer

As quoted in Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity (2013) by David Foster Wallace, p. 8

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Carl B. Boyer 15

American mathematician 1906–1976

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“But what, after all, are the integers? Everyone thinks that he or she knows, for example, what the number three is — until he or she tries to define or explain it.”

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Carl B. Boyer 15

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