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Mathematics

Are the infinitely small and the infinitely large the same thing?
Accepted:
October 16, 2008

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Richard Heck
October 17, 2008 (changed October 17, 2008) Permalink

It would help to be told why one might think they were. But in mathematics, no, they are not. Something that is infinitely small---a so-called infinitesimal---is something that is smaller than anything of finite size. Something that is infinitely large is something that is larger than anything of finite size. So if they were the same, something would have to be both larger and smaller than anything of finite size. And that ain't gonna happen.

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