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Infinity is an abstract term, used in philosophy to describe something that “has no limits,” is “unreachable,” or “inexhaustible”. From a mathematician’s point of view, infinity is not a number, but rather an additional symbol depicting amounts larger than describable by numbers, explains Mart Abel, the Professor of mathematics at the Tallinn University School of Digital Technologies.

Why such a symbol? Let us look at a few explanations:

1)      In the Roman numeral system called “astrophus”, which designated large numbers, the symbol for 1000 was C|Ɔ. Before 1655, the symbol for infinity was also said to represent the number 1000.

2)      In India and Tibet, the symbol stood for perfection and dualism, as well as the uniformity of man and woman.

3)      As it looks like two entangled rings, it was used by lovers as a signature to symbol their eternal love.

Infinity as a concept saw light already during 6^th Century BC, when the Greek philosopher Anaximander was the first to consider the universe infinite.

The first people to consider different kinds of infinities were Jainists from India during 4^th Century BC. They described “infinity in one direction”, “infinity in two directions”, “infinity in area”, “infinity everywhere,” or “infinity in volume”, and “perpetual infinity”.

European mathematicians started using infinity in calculations at the end of the 17^th Century, when mathematical analysis emerged.

Modern mathematics uses a system do describe various infinities, which stems from Georg Cantor’s set theory that he devised around 1900. By now, mathematicians have defined numerous different infinities. At the same time, the Janinist “infinite in one direction” and “infinite in two directions” are considered the same thing.

To understand the various infinities, one must delve into mathematics, especially set theory. The road to understanding infinity is long, but not infinite!