Abstract
All of mathematics rests on the foundations of numbers and set theory. This first chapter reviews some basic definitions and notations, including the basic number sets, factors and factorization, and prime numbers. Equations and inequalities are treated, followed by sums and summation notations. After introducing sets and Venn diagrams, we define some standard statistical ideas—means, modes, medians, and standard deviations.
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Similar diagram methods were first used by Leibniz and Euler. George Venn used the diagrams extensively. Some textbooks use the name “Euler diagram” for the case where not all possible regions are represented, but we think it more appropriate simply to say “Venn diagram” because Venn formalized and unified diagram methods. For some reason, Leibniz has escaped credit.
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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
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Wallis, W.D. (2012). Numbers and Sets. In: A Beginner's Guide to Finite Mathematics. Birkhäuser Boston. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-8176-8319-1_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-8176-8319-1_1
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser Boston
Print ISBN: 978-0-8176-8318-4
Online ISBN: 978-0-8176-8319-1
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