Many years ago, I had this conversation with my brother about the nature of our universe. If the universe is infinite, he asked, is it possible for there to be an infinite number of planets? I said no, arguing that there was always room for one more. How could you have more than an infinite number of planets?
I was reminded of the conversation when a coworker and I were talking about infinity last week. I argued that infinity could equal zero if you thought about it properly. He was saying that infinity can’t be treated as a number since it’s transcendental. I asked him about the infinite universe question, pointing out that if you took one molecule from each of these planets and put them together, you’d have a planet of infinite size, not to mention all of the other planets. How could this be?
I began asking all sorts of questions about infinity. For instance, if you had a camera with infinite storage capacity and took an infinite number of pictures, would you have room left over? I began thinking that this would make an interesting topic for a blog. I’ve asked my brother to join me in this infinite endeavor. He’s going to have to see how this first entry goes, but I’m thinking that it’s a good idea.
I wanted to start a math-related blog. This is my opportunity. I’m wondering if we can keep it to just infinity or if we’ll have to resort to other math problems. Either way, it will be fun.
