I was asked the following question by a colleague:
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Do you know of any very good essays or other treatments of domain of number
(e.g., the major objects , operations, etc, of the whole, integer,
rational, and real number systems) that would be serious and yet accessible?
I'd like help in assembling a small number of very good pieces that
would serve as a resource for a group of mathematicians with whom I am
working to write an essay on number. In part, I want them to see some
other people's takes on this domain, and in part, I also want them to see
what examples of serious writing that is accessible to an educated, but not
mathematically trained, reader might look like.
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What is perhaps being asked for is something that lies in the intersection
of philosophy and mathematics. I have some ideas, but I would be interested
to hear the ideas of others.
Ed Wall