The surreal numbers are a number system invented by John Conway, constructed recursively from pairs of earlier formed sets of numbers, that contains the real numbers as well as infinite and infinitesimal numbers. Conway discovered them while analyzing the endgames of Go, and they underlie the value system of combinatorial game theory.
Facts
Connections
Associated With
Source MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
Surreal numbers form a number system that includes the real numbers as well as infinite and infinitesimal numbers.
Attributed To
Source Surreal Numbers (Wikipedia)
In Branch
Source Conway, On Numbers and Games (1976)John H. Conway
Sources
1. Conway, On Numbers and Games (1976)
John H. Conway, Academic Press, 1976
Surreal Number (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, second sentenceQuote, Lead section, second sentence
Research on the Go endgame by John Horton Conway led to the original definition and construction of surreal numbers.
MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive
University of St Andrews, School of Mathematics and StatisticsAssociated With: John Conway, https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Conway/Quote, Associated With: John Conway, https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Conway/
Conway studied the games of two players of Go at Cambridge who were of international standard. He noticed that near the end of a game it appeared like the sum of a lot of smaller games. Analysing the situation Conway discovered that certain games behaved like numbers and surreal numbers were born.
Surreal Numbers (Wikipedia)
Attributed To: Donald Knuth, LeadQuote, Attributed To: Donald Knuth, Lead
Conway's construction was introduced in Donald Knuth's 1974 book Surreal Numbers: How Two Ex-Students Turned On to Pure Mathematics and Found Total Happiness
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