Page:Philosophy and Fun of Algebra.djvu/84

 CHAPTER XVI INFINITY

You remember the angel who looks like this, &radic;-1. Now I am going to introduce you to another angel. It is called "Infinity." When you come to it, remember what I told you before—Angels are messengers from the great world of the "As-Yet-Unknown." They never gossip about their private affairs, or those of other angels. They come to tell you either about what you are to do next, or about something you had better not do next; and if you ask them impertinent questions about things that do not concern you for the time being, they will give you headaches and make your head spin: just to teach you to mind your own business. This particular angel always comes with a message about a broken link or a loosened chain. It comes, when an hypothesis has been fully worked out, to tell you that you are now free from the bonds of that hypothesis and at liberty to start experimenting on a fresh one. But its message is 80