Talk:Natural number
Latest comment: 13 years ago by 173.206.237.178
The current version of this paper uses two slightly different definitions of the natural numbers. First it defines the natural numbers as the set
N = {0, 1, 2, 3, ...}
which includes zero. Then it constructs the Peano axioms for the whole numbers
W = {1, 2, 3, ...}
which excludes zero. The term “natural numbers” is used to refer to both sets, N and W. This can be confusing, since Lemma 1 in the section titled “ordering” fails if y happens to be zero. --173.206.237.178 21:59, 19 June 2011 (UTC)