CANTOR, Georg (1845-1918). ''Ueber eine Eigenschaft des Imbegriffes aller reellen algebraischen Zahlen'' in Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik. Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1874.

CANTOR, Georg (1845-1918). "Ueber eine Eigenschaft des Imbegriffes aller reellen algebraischen Zahlen" in Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik. Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1874.

First edition of Cantor’s landmark paper on transfinite numbers, a foundational set for the understanding of fractals and fractal geometry—and modern computer graphics. Cantor’s discoveries, which have had far reaching implications in fields from computing to philosophy, were attacked by scholars as wide-ranging as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Henri Poincaré. Cantor believed his insights on transfinite numbers had been communicated to him by God, while Catholic theologians felt his work threatened church teachings. A century later, this set—which Benoit Mandelbrot referred to as “fractal dust”—would profoundly influence the latter’s pioneering work on fractals while working at IBM in the 1980s.

Octavo (264 x 196mm). 258-262 pp. (small chips to edges), in: [2], 348 pp., 2 folding lithographic plates. Modern navy morocco over marbled boards. Provenance: faint ink stamp on title.