Though Wallis was advanced for his times and accepted negative numbers, he thought they were larger than infinity but not less than zero. In his Arithmetica Infinitorum (1655), he argued that since the ratio a/0, when a is positive, is infinite, then, when the denominator is changed to a negative number, as in a/b with b negative, the ratio must be greater than infinity.


p. 253. - Mathematical Thought from Ancient to Modern Times (1972)

Morris Kline Quotes

Though Wallis was advanced for his times and accepted negative numbers, he thought they were larger than infinity but not less than zero. In his...

Though Wallis was advanced for his times and accepted negative numbers, he thought they were larger than infinity but not less than zero. In his...

Though Wallis was advanced for his times and accepted negative numbers, he thought they were larger than infinity but not less than zero. In his...

Though Wallis was advanced for his times and accepted negative numbers, he thought they were larger than infinity but not less than zero. In his...