statement of set theory that the set of real numbers (the continuum) is in a sense as small as it can be. In 1873 the German mathematician Georg Cantor proved that the continuum is uncountable-that is, the real numbers are a larger infinity than the counting numbers-a key result in starting set theory as a mathematical subject. Furthermore, Cantor developed a way of classifying the size of infinite sets according to the number of its elements, or its cardinality. (See set theory: Cardinality and transfinite numbers.) In these terms, the continuum hypothesis can be stated as follows: The cardinality of the continuum is the smallest uncountable cardinal number.