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Jorge Luis Borges and mathematics
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<p>Jorge Luis Borges and mathematics concerns several modern <a href="/facts/Mathematics/pxTouaz4">mathematical</a> concepts found in certain essays and short stories of <a href="/facts/Argentina/aFSA5bAk">Argentinian</a> author <a href="/facts/Jorge_Luis_Borges/UgfVLqdk">Jorge Luis Borges</a> (1899–1986), including concepts such as <a href="/facts/Set_theory/1ptfsvUP">set theory</a>, <a href="/facts/Recursion/CxSKxJoW">recursion</a>, <a href="/facts/Chaos_theory/LTC17vsF">chaos theory</a>, and <a href="/facts/Infinity/cF506uD7">infinite</a> <a href="/facts/Sequence/gV2S4uqp">sequences</a>, although Borges' strongest links to mathematics are through <a href="/facts/Georg_Cantor/k5v1DvW4">Georg Cantor</a>'s theory of infinite sets, outlined in "The Doctrine of Cycles" (<i>La doctrina de los ciclos</i>). Some of Borges' most popular works such as "<a href="/facts/The_Library_of_Babel/mVeuSr9K">The Library of Babel</a>" (<i>La Biblioteca de Babel</i>), "<a href="/facts/The_Garden_of_Forking_Paths/a0UNkRsH">The Garden of Forking Paths</a>" (<i>El Jardín de Senderos que se Bifurcan</i>), "<a href="/facts/The_Aleph_(short_story)/sKkh9n6E">The Aleph</a>" (<i>El Aleph</i>), an allusion to Cantor's use of the Hebrew letter <a href="/facts/Aleph/fFWqQp9C">aleph</a> ( ℵ {\displaystyle \aleph } ) to denote cardinality of transfinite sets, and "<a href="/facts/The_Approach_to_Al-Mu%27tasim/qLd7qGga">The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim</a>" (<i>El acercamiento a Almotásim</i>) illustrate his use of mathematics. </p><p>According to Argentinian mathematician <a href="/facts/Guillermo_Mart%C3%ADnez_(writer)/4mJX1ztR">Guillermo Martínez</a>, Borges at least had a knowledge of mathematics at the level of first courses in <a href="/facts/Algebra/nMdqczjo">algebra</a> and analysis at a university – covering <a href="/facts/Logic/8JnpJLtt">logic</a>, <a href="/facts/Paradox/3VLGjuWf">paradoxes</a>, infinity, <a href="/facts/Topology/2EqW47cU">topology</a> and <a href="/facts/Probability_theory/mFBn51rE">probability theory</a>. He was also aware of the contemporary debates on the foundations of mathematics. </p>