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Introduction
Therearetwoareasofmathematics,namely,arithmeticandgeometry.They
areindependent,yetclearlyseparated.Arithmeticdealswithnumbers,geom-
etrydealswithspace.Whereasthenotionofnumberisrootedinourthinking
thatmostcreatorsofmathematicswereinclinedtoacceptitwithoutdiscussion,
viewsonspacehavealwaysbeensubjecttodeepsplits.Whetherspaceshould
betreatedasamathematicalobject1thatisasanobjectofthought1oras
aphysicalobjectisaquestionwhichwewillnotanswer.Parmenides,oneofthe
firstphilosophersofnaturewhoseviewswewillhaveoccasiontoinvestigate,
identifiedspacewithidealexistence,andthuswithexistencethatisinvariant,
homogeneous,infinite,andforminganentity.
Thepeoplenotedmorespecificcharacteristicofspace.Oneofthemis
continuity.
Thischaracteristicofspaceissomuchpartofournotionsthatweloseourway
initsanalysis.InancientGreecethecontinuityofspacemeantlikethepossibil-
ityofsubdividingitindefinitely.ThiswastheviewofAnaxagoraswhosaidthat
“thereisnoleastinthesmall.”Translatedintonon-archaiclanguage,thismeans
thatonecansubdivideeverypartofspace.Aristotletookthischaracteristicof
spaceasthestartingpointofhisinvestigations.Butthereisanothercharacteristic
ofcontinuitywhichensurethecohesivenessofcontinuousexistence:twopartsinto
whichweseparateitmentallyadheretooneother.Amathematicalformulationof
thischaracteristicwasdiscoveredonlyalittlemorethanahundredyearsago.
Acontinuousobject,thatis,oneinfinitelydivisibleandcohesive,hasbeen
calledalreadyinantiquityacontinuum.TherootofthiswordistheLatin
continere,whoseGreekprototypeissyn-echein,whichroughlymeanstobond.
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